Team SHLD: Rekindled Oath
by pichu9
Summary: Two more years have passed since Delta was declared M.I.A. The team, now disbanded, goes about their new lives, living in peace as time continues to flow. However, with trouble brewing, their bonds are tested as the pieces begin falling together, revealing that there might be secrets that they were not told about. Adult themed.
1. Fresh Starts

**Heeeelllloooo everybody! How's it going? Hope y'all are enjoying the new year so far. So, I was REALLY struggling with what to name this story. Hell, I'm still having trouble piecing together the whole damn thing all together. But what the hay; I'm just winging it as usual. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy the newest chapter in the the story of Team SHLD. Take care, and I'll see y'all later!**

* * *

 _Two years have passed._

 _What was left of Team SHLD was holed up in Al's Tavern, planning their next course of action. Any given missions were now specific to each person's abilities, etc. It was beginning to drive Sierra nuts since said leader was mainly the one that was going on them solo. Lima and Hotel very seldom tagged along, though they did go on their own missions from time to time for the usual expenses._

 _In the months that had passed, Lima had gotten engaged to Windsickle, and Hotel and Yang had a proper wedding, though Yang kept her maiden name. Sierra, being closest to Hotel, was extremely happy for them, having visions of her upcoming wedding with Echo. Lima's ears wagged happily, seemingly reading Sierra's mind as they hung out in the private room that they used as a meeting room. However, as they turned to face the chair that Delta would usually sit at, the light mood suddenly turned stale, having remembered that said member was currently out on a mission._

 _Lima's ears immediately drooped as she looked down at her cup of juice. Hotel kept his eyes on the empty chair for a couple minutes before taking another swig from his beer cup, setting it back down on the table. Sierra simply played with a knife, sighing as she tossed it up in the air, landing directly in the middle of the table. However, she was quick to try to lighten the mood as she said, "Hey, let's not worry. This is Delta, after all. I'm sure he's fine."_

 _Just then, a knock on the door caught their attention. The team's attention turned to the door as it slowly opened, revealing a red-haired woman. Sierra's eyes immediately widened as the woman casually entered the room, taking Delta's empty chair and turning it around, sitting on it and leaning on the back rest. There was a tense moment of silence before Sierra ushered, "Scarlet…!"_

 _Immediately, Lima and Hotel jumped out of their chairs and reached for their weapons, alarmed. However, Sierra immediately raised her hands, calling them off, catching them off guard as Scarlet turned to the door, an unknown man entering right after with a cup. He very quickly gave Scarlet the cup, of which she quickly downed the contents, then said, "I see you've caught on, sis."_

" _What're you doing here…?"_

 _Sierra's gaze just as quickly narrowed as she kept her hands tense, ready to pull out knives at a moment's notice._

" _Okay, never mind," Scarlet stated, sighing as she put the cup down and continued, "I've got some news regarding your boy."_

" _My…boy?"_

" _Yeah. That teammate of yours."_

 _Immediately, dread snuck into the team's very beings._

" _Delta Ordance," Scarlet stated, "per order of General Ironwood, and the consent of Ozpin, has officially been listed as M.I.A."_

* * *

Ruby took the news harshly. She began holing herself up in the apartment, not coming out for days to the point where Sierra, Hotel, Lima, Yang, and other friends and family would take turns watching over her. Some nights would be nights where all she would do was cry herself to sleep, wishing that Delta was there with her. Wishing, no, _knowing_ that, somewhere out there, Delta was still alive. He could be alive. He _had_ to be alive.

Despite the news, the team had tried numerous times to contact him, often leaving voice mails in a faint hope that he was still alive.

However, life moves on, as does the team.

* * *

Hotel sparred on with Yang, both of them exchanging blows as Lima continued playing with their child, a year old baby girl who was essentially a baby image of her mother. Lima couldn't help but smile as the parents both locked weapons, Yang's right fist firmly planted on the shaft of Hotel's spear, both of them smirking at each other before a gunshot, followed by a lightning fast right hook, sent Hotel flying straight for Lima. The man slid painfully on the ground, coming to a stop just in front of his kid, his eyes scrunched in pain. The child simply stared at her father, blinking in surprise, then began crawling all over him, thinking it was some sort of game. Hotel simply laughed, picking the child up and holding her in the air. Yang let out an exhilarated shout, then walked over and sat down on Hotel's stomach, taking the child from his hands.

"I win again, babe," Yang stated, smirking again as Hotel chuckled and replied, "Yes, I know."

"Hotel," Lima called out, catching his attention. He turned his head to look at her, seeing her stand up and pat herself off. He smiled at her, then said, "See you later, Lima. Thanks again for watching Flare tonight."

Lima simply turned and smiled, then continued on her way as she began making her way back home.

* * *

From a nearby tree, Sierra watched as Lima began making her way home, walking down the somewhat beaten path that led to Vale. The former then let out a sigh, walking away from the tree, knowing all too well that her lifestyle couldn't differentiate more from her former team's own lifestyles.

"That was quite the move you pulled off."

"Go to hell," Sierra replied as Scarlet approached her from behind. Sierra continued walking the opposite direction of Lima, Scarlet following along.

Team SHLD had officially been disbanded.

Without Delta, Sierra felt that the team didn't quite feel like it used to be, with Delta's flexibility to fight alongside any member missing from their strategies. Could she have worked around it? Possibly. But it was better that way. Now she didn't have to worry about any of them getting hurt because she messed up.

"Not even gonna say hi to them?"

"No. There's really no reason to when I'd only have so long to talk."

"It isn't a bad idea to see your team from time to time."

"…Scarlet."

"Yes, yes. 'Stop telling me how to live.'"

"And you'd best remember that."

* * *

 ***beep beep beep***

"…another new one…."

*click*

"H…hi. I…don't know if you're even hearing this, but I got a new house! Well…Dad helped me with the process and everything, but I've settled down now and…well…I'm only waiting for you to return, hehe."

"…"

"All of your stuff is still boxed up in an empty room. I'm not gonna touch it because I want you to lay it out."

"…"

"…Del…I miss you…I…*sniffle*…miss you…so much…."

"…"

"…I…*sniffle*…love you…*sniffle*…see you…later…."

 ***beep***

"…hah…."


	2. A New Life: Sierra

**Howdy everybody! You know, I've honestly lost all of my creative ability...at least for the majority of this month. I've had a couple spurts here and there, then life catches up to me and I don't get a break x.x**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy chapter 2, and I'll see y'all later.**

* * *

Sierra hopped out of the transport ship, looking around as Scarlet hopped out after her. She then turned around to look at the cockpit, giving a thumbs up. The pilot reciprocated, then took off again. Sierra stared on after, then let out a sigh as she began walking toward the nearby village. Scarlet raised an eyebrow, running after her, catching up quickly.

"Something on your mind?"

Sierra's gaze narrowed as she looked at her forearms, the bracers on the underside of her arms glinting in the sunlight. She then let out another sigh, only to receive a pat on the back. She turned and faced Scarlet, who smiled and stated, "It's not good to sigh all the time, you know."

"Yeah," Sierra replied, then turned back to the bracers. Scarlet looked at them, curious, as Sierra dropped her arms. The older of the two, intrigued, immediately asked, "What're those?"

"Ironwood said they'd make my jobs a little easier," Sierra replied.

"Oh? What kind of jobs?"

Sierra stopped, remaining silent. Scarlet stopped as well, keeping her eyes on the younger sibling. Sierra blinked, memories flooding her mind, then shook her head, continuing their walk to the village. Scarlet, confused, continued walking as well, unsure of what the younger woman was thinking.

The two quickly came upon the village.

Sierra habitually reached back for her hoodie, but was stopped by something grabbing her wrist. Surprised, she immediately turned around, seeing Scarlet shake her head. The older woman the pulled her hand back down and stated, "That'll make them suspicious."

"Ah…right," Sierra sighed, then walked through the main gate.

Scarlet's eyes immediately drew toward a little girl, holding her mother's hand tightly, as well as clenching something else in her opposite hand. She watched as the little girl looked at them, then turned toward her mother and said something, letting go of her hand and running over them. Scarlet simply grinned, looking away as the little girl ran up to Sierra, catching the latter's attention as she asked, "A-are you Sierra?"

Sierra blinked in surprise, kneeling down to the girl's level as she replied, "Yes, I am."

The little girl simply stared, apparent that she was curious about Sierra's hair color, then raised her hand toward Sierra's. The young woman, surprised, reached her hand out, open and palm up. The child then dropped what appeared to be a chip in her hand, catching Sierra by surprise as the child stated, "A-a superhero said to give that to you!"

"Superhero?"

Scarlet began snickering, finding humor out of Sierra's conversation with the child before her mother began calling for her. The child then turned to her mother, then back to Sierra, bowing, then running back to her mother. Sierra, surprised, looked at the chip, somewhat awestricken as Scarlet let out an audible laugh and stated, "Not too often you see that, eh?"

Sierra, however, failed to hear her older sister. She was too awestricken that the child had known her name. She simply muttered, "…she knew my name."

"Huh?"

"She knows my name," Sierra repeated, then looked around at the people that were walking about. Adrenaline began pulsing through her veins as she began turning her gaze from person to person; human to faunus, and vice versa. Scarlet, however, immediately changed the subject as she stated, "Don't worry about it. Someone probably let her know to give that to you. It's not hard to miss silver hair, you know."

Sierra turned back to the older sibling, seeing her with a confident smile on her face as the latter patted the former's shoulder, then began walking to a nearby tavern. Sierra simply blinked a couple times, then let out a sigh as she followed along, contemplating what she was about to find on the chip.

* * *

Later that night, Sierra opened her scroll. Scarlet remained downstairs, talking with the townsfolk while Sierra, who had just checked out a room, went through the information given to her. However, with no information given from the townsfolk, she was stuck simply with whatever intel she had received from the Atlesian military…however small it was. With her scroll opened, she reached over to the chip and inserted it into her scroll, pulling it up in projection mode.

Initially, there was just a white orb.

Then, her target's form appeared, followed by an abundance of information on her target, including habits, places he had been staying at, and who he was conversing with. Sierra, caught off guard, stared in surprise, then flinched as a hand touched her shoulder. Instinctively, and out of habit, she flicked her right wrist and turned, swinging her arm for whoever had grabbed her shoulder.

Scarlet simply sighs, deflecting the younger woman's strike, grabbing her wrist and holding Sierra's arm behind her back. Scarlet then grabbed Sierra's other arm and flicked her other wrist, a blade shooting out of the gauntlet as the former then pulled it up to the latter's neck. Sierra's breathing intensified as the blade was held to her neck, Scarlet's grip firmly holding her wrist in place.

"Ooooh, that's what those are," Scarlet stated in curiosity, inspecting the bracers closely. Sierra blinked, then sighed, relaxing as Scarlet loosened her grip on her wrists. Sierra then looked at the blades and flicked her wrists again, the blades retracting as Scarlet purred in curiosity. Sierra then turned back to Scarlet, who flopped onto the bed on her back and asked, "So I'm gonna guess you're acting as some sort of assassin now?"

Sierra remains quiet and crosses arms, turning away from the older woman. Scarlet simply smirks and moans, relaxing into the bed as she threw an arm over her eyes. Sierra shot a glance at her older sister, remaining silent as Scarlet's breathing began to relax. Raising an eyebrow, Sierra looked outside, seeing a man walk out from the tavern and look around. Immediately, the man perked her interest as he began walking toward the village's main entrance. She then glanced at the projection on the scroll, freezing time and observing the physical comparison.

"…looks about right. Leaves the tavern right around…now…it's probably a match," Sierra says to herself, then waves the projection off. She then closed the scroll and slipped it in her pocket, just about to take her leave before Scarlet called out, "Easy now, Sakuya."

"Yeah, yeah," Sierra replies, sighing as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

Hiding behind the corner of a building, Sierra kept an eye on the suspicious figure, watching as he made a turn. Dashing out of her hiding spot, she slid behind a section of pickett fencing just as the man turned and looked around. Peeking her head out, she watched as he gave a shrug, then continued walking toward the village entrance. Following close behind, she maintained her distance while as low key as she possibly could. The man occasionally paused, seemingly sensing that he was being followed, but each time, shrugged it off like it was just his imagination.

When they finally reached the village entrance, the man left through the main gate. Sierra leaned against the opposite side of the wall, closing her eyes as she focused her senses on her hearing, listening to the man's footsteps as he finally came to a stop. She opened her eyes slightly, freezing time and walking out to where the man was frozen in time. She looked at him, then looked at a tree, walking over to it and unfreezing time as she leaned against it, hiding as he said, "I'm here."

Just then, another voice said, "So we're behind, are we?"

"It couldn't be helped. There was no one available, anyway."

"So be it."

Taking a peek, Sierra watched as the man spoke with another man, the second dressed in what appeared to be a large cloak. Curious, she kept her eye on them as the conversed about someone who was a possible target in the future. However, the person that the conversed about oddly reminded her of someone she used to know. She occasionally caught "strange semblance," and "multiple swords." However, the two that caught her attention most? Fast reflexes and Amethyst eyes.

"Del…ta…?"

Furrowing her brow, she put a finger on her chin, shaking off the thought. Delta couldn't possibly be alive. Could he?

"Now then, before I leave…."

Immediately, Sierra was brought back from her imagination.

"Could you do something about those huntresses that are in the village?"

A smirk slowly graced Sierra's lips.

"Of course. I'm already a step ahead of them."

"Really now…," Sierra muttered to herself as the other man stated, "Then I leave the rest to you."

With a snap of the finger, Sierra froze time and began making her way back to her and Scarlet's room at the tavern.

"Did you have a good time?"

Sierra flopped into the chair by the desk, letting out a sigh as she replied, "Well, if I'm right, we should be getting attacked sometime soon."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yep. Supposedly, my target's a step ahead of us."

"Hmm. Should make things interesting."

Scarlet moaned, stretching in the bed as Sierra turned to face her older sibling.

"…Scarlet."

"Yes?"

Scarlet then spun around on the bed, facing Sierra.

"First, you're breaking my arm, but now you're trying to be my ally?"

Scarlet smiled, rolling onto her back and crossing her arms. Her red locks began falling off the side of the bed as she let out a mewl. Sierra raised an eyebrow, simply watching the woman as she replied, "That's a secret."

"Is it something you're not willing to-?"

Suddenly, something broke through the window. Sierra immediately turned to face it, seeing a small object suddenly begin dispersing smoke. However, she remained calm. Scarlet simply began chuckling as the sound of feet landing within the smoke echoed in the room.

For a moment, there was silence. Then the sound of a wall being destroyed as Sierra's target went flying through it. He let out a gawk of pain as Scarlet walked through the wall after him, her boots red and crystalized. The man slowly opened his eyes, seeing her approach him as she lifted his chin up with the toe of her boot.

"Well. Thought you were smart, eh?"

The man simply growled, clenching his pathetic little knife tightly as Scarlet threatened to take his head off.

"Hold on, hold on," Sierra sighed, scratching the back of her head as she exited the hole in the wall, "There's a few questions that I need to ask this one, first."


	3. Nights for Lima

**I should really stop watching all these feel good anime...**

 **I'm joking. There's been a lot of things going on lately, so I haven't been as creative as I used to be. Anyway, thanks again, y'all. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **3rd POV**

* * *

 ***Beep beep***

 ***Beep beep***

 ***Beep beep***

 ***Click* *beep***

"Hello?"

"Hey Lima. Is she asleep yet?"

Lima glanced over at a sleeping Flare, watching the yearling breathing softly on her bed.

"Yes."

"Alright, that's good. Hey, thanks again."

"No problem."

"We should be back in an hour."

"That works."

"She didn't give you too much trouble, did she?"

"No."

"That's good. Anyway, I'll catch you later."

"Alright."

With that, Lima hung up and let out a sigh. It was now official that Lima was Yang and Hotel's nanny, watching over Flare. Oddly enough, Yang decided to keep her maiden name, not that Hotel cared, anyway. However, when the time came to name Flare, they were quite undecided as to which last name Flare would be going under. It honestly made Lima laugh a little, watching them squabble over the situation.

Just then, the sound of knocking on the front door caught her attention. Immediately, she could smell Ruby, causing her to close her eyes and smile softly as she stood up and walked to the front door of the Lancer-Xiao Long residence. Opening it, she was immediately greeted by the sight of a mid-twenties Ruby Rose, her hair cut back down to neck length and very much still wearing the same getup as she did in the past, with a minor difference in the length of her "battle skirt" just being slightly longer to where it was just over her knees.

"Oh, Lima? Hi!"

"Hi, Ruby," Lima replied, letting the young woman into the house. Ruby happily walked in, immediately going to the couch and sitting down. Lima followed suit, closing the door and going to the kitchen, grabbing what tea materials that Yang and Hotel had, pouring water in to a pot and turning on the stove. She then walked back to where Ruby was situated, sitting on the couch diagonal from her. Ruby simply smiled at the faunus and asked, "How've you been?"

"Fine."

"Still with Wind?"

"Yes."

"Have you two decided on a wedding date yet?"

"No."

"Has he even proposed to you, yet?"

Lima proceeds to shake her head.

"Really? I would've thought he'd propose already."

Lima shook her head again.

"…"

"…"

"…

"…How about you?"

"Huh?"

Immediately, Lima's eyes drag over to the ring still on Ruby's finger.

"I mean…umm...," Lima immediately pointed at the ring, causing Ruby to look down at it, the small red gem gleaming in the light from the dining room. Ruby simply blinked, feeling a little depressed, but immediately smiled it off and clutched her right hand with her left. Lima blinked, watching her as she stated, "I…I still believe he's alive."

"…"

"I can't stop believing. I don't want to believe that he's dead. He's not dead. Not Delta."

Lima smiled, closing her eyes as she listened to Ruby.

"…Ruby."

Lima's eyes opened again.

"He's gonna come back," she stated, watching Ruby's smile. Ruby glanced up at the faunus again, her smile still strong as she pulled out her scroll and said, "Look! His scroll's still receiving messages, so…!"

"Really?"

Lima didn't sound too surprised. She knew first hand that, if Delta was still alive, then he wouldn't answer his scroll for weeks to months on end. In a way, she felt that he was turning into another Qrow.

Just then, the sound of a hissing tea pot began annoying her ears, causing her to grumble and walk back to the dining room, taking the pot off the stove. She then grabbed two cups and poured the hot water into them, putting the tea leaves in them after. Afterward, she set the two cups on the dining table and ushered Ruby over, to which the latter happily obliged.

"Did you become a designer?"

Lima shook her head, taking a sip from her cup, wincing a little at how hot it was as she replied, "It's on the side."

"Oh, really? I would've thought you'd go full-time," Ruby stated, a little surprised as she remembered Lima constantly stitching and sewing back at Beacon. Lima smiled and set her cup down, closing her eyes as she focused her hearing, making sure Flare was still asleep, the child's steady breathing filling the air. She then came back down to Remnant and opened her eyes again, answering, "I'm still a huntress."

"Oh, so you haven't stopped hunting Grimm?"

Lima shook her head again and stated, "I don't go out as much. It's usually Wind. And I usually go with Blake or Hotel."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe we oughta have a go together some time?"

"Maybe."

The two women giggled to each other before they were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. They were then greeted to the sight of Yang turning around and wrapping her arms around Hotel, who was struggling to get his shoes off. Ruby immediately gawked and Lima covered her mouth as the two tumbled their ways to their bedroom, clearly a little wasted. Lima giggled as Ruby sighed, taking another sip of her tea. Sensing the latter's distraught, Lima glanced at Ruby, who had furrowed her brow.

"…Del…," Ruby muttered, clearly missing her fiancé.

* * *

"Thanks for keeping me company, Lima."

Ruby smiled at the faunus, who smiled back in turn. As they approached Ruby's new house, so similar to her dad's house in Patch, Lima looked to her left, seeing Vale in the distance. Blinking in surprise, she turned back to Ruby and asked, "You're close to Vale?"

"Because I know Del would get homesick," Ruby replied, still smiling as she entered the house and ushered Lima inside.

Immediately, Lima took notice of the boxes still lying around. Walking over to an opened one, she spotted and pulled out an old group picture of Team SHLD. A smile graced her face as she pulled out a photo album that was sitting right under it. She could sense Ruby hovering over her shoulder as she opened the album, seeing Ruby and Delta's graduation picture. Ruby giggled, then said, "Man, sure brings back some memories."

Lima's smile stayed as she flipped through the pages, spotting a random picture of her and Delta fighting Grimm.

"Who took this?"

"I think Velvet did," Ruby replied, "I think it was during one of Oobleck's field trips?"

"Makes sense," Lima stated, flipping through and spotting a picture of the night Delta proposed to Ruby. Her smile deepened as she looked at Ruby, who was playing with the locket that Delta had given her so long ago. Lima then turned back to the album, flipping it to when Team SHLD had returned from the Sierra rescue mission, then flipped it to a selfie that Ruby had taken with a sleeping Delta.

"Aww."

Ruby leaned over, then yelped and blushed and immediately took the album away, catching Lima off guard as the former clutched the album tightly. Lima blinked, then turned around to face the flustered young woman. Another smile graced the latter's face as she walked over to the couch and sat down, letting out a sigh.

"…It's been…too long…," Lima said, looking out the window at the sun setting over Vale. Ruby looked at the faunus, then set the album on a nearby end table and sat down on the couch adjacent to her. Ruby then looked out the window as well, captivated as the room lit up with a hint of orange. Then, without thinking, she said, "When he gets back, he's so getting it."

"Hmm?"

Lima glanced at Ruby, who slowly opened her eyes and continued, "He's so…getting it."

A smile slowly graced Ruby's face, then turned into a frown just as quickly as a tear streaked down her cheek. Lima immediately stood up as Ruby slid her legs up, hugging her knees as she sniffled. Lima then took the seat next to her and wrapped her arms around the other huntress, who immediately began sobbing.

"Del…! Del…!"


	4. A Day with Hotel

**What's up everybody, Pichu here! I hope that all of y'all college kids survived the first week of your semester (or second...hmm...). Anyway, here's the next chapter of this installment, and now, back to homework!**

 **...Crap, I have class in the morning.**

* * *

 **3rd POV**

* * *

 ***ring ring ri—beep***

"Nmm…Hotel, here."

"Good morning, Mr. Lancer."

Hotel groaned and sat up, having to listen to whoever begin talking to him about whatever he had to do for the day.

"Mm…."

An arm snaked around him, causing him to look over his shoulder. Yang lazily looked up at him, her hair a mess as she asked, "Who is it, babe?"

"Another job," Hotel replied as the presumed huntsman stopped speaking, then asked, "I-I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Not at all," Hotel sighed as Yang plopped back down on to the bed. The huntsman immediately began talking about the specifics of his next job, causing the man to groan as he covered his face with his hand, massaging his temples. Yang simply watched him, sensing his annoyance with whatever job he was going to take on. After several minutes of not getting anywhere, she sighed and took his scroll from him, catching him by surprise as she said, "Sorry, he's not available today."

With that, she hung up.

"What the—Yang!"

"Got you out of your boring job though, right?"

Hotel opened his mouth to speak, but then sighed as he plopped back down onto the bed next to her. Yang smiled and repositioned herself so that she was lying on his chest, humming to herself as she traced his toned upper body. Hotel closed his eyes, then reopened them and snuck an arm around her waist and said, "You can't keep cancelling these jobs for me, you know."

"But that's why you have me now," Yang replied, walking her fingers up his chest. Hotel stared at the ceiling as Yang smiled, then tilted her head up at his face and said, "I can't believe it's already been a year since we had Flare."

Hotel smiled, bringing his arm off Yang's waist. He then moved it up and began combing it through her hair, an image of their child popping into his mind. Yang closed her eyes, fully rolling onto Hotel's body. She then wrapped her arms around his body, relaxing herself as Hotel said, "Yang, Flare's probably up by now."

"I know," Yang replied, smiling again, "But we don't get enough time to lay like this, anymore."

 ***10 minutes later***

"There there," Hotel said as he picked up his crying daughter. Lazily dressed in a loose pair of sweatpants and no shirt, Yang leaned against the door frame and said, "You're such a dilf, babe."

Hotel simply grinned, turning around to face her. Yang, dressed in one of his oversized shirts, walked over and took Flare from him, the child opening her eyes to meet her mother's identical lilac irises. Yang smiled, rocking her to and fro as Hotel stretched and went to the kitchen, contemplating what to make for the morning.

However, the morning routine was immediately interrupted by a knock on the door. Hotel immediately looked at the front door, contemplating whether to answer or not. Yang then walked into the kitchen/dining room/living room area, still in Hotel's shirt, before she went back to their bedroom and grabbed some proper clothing.

With a sigh, Hotel walked over to the hallway, catching a shirt and sliding it on as he walked over to the door, opening it to reveal the silver-haired time stopper that was his former leader. He stared at Sierra, blinked once, then stared at her again before she said, "Are you just gonna stand there with your mouth on the ground or what?"

"Well, I haven't seen you for the better part of the year, so damn right I'm gonna stand here with my mouth on the ground," Hotel shot back as he stepped aside. Sierra sighed as she walked in, stretching as she looked around and said, "Man! The last time I was here was when you two just moved in!"

"You sure seem to have been busy if that's the last time you remember even visiting," Hotel said back to her as Yang walked in, dressed in her tank and cargos. Flare, still in her arms, looked at the silverette, eyes wide in surprise the new figure. Hotel simply laughed as Yang, in just as much surprise, said, "Sierra! It's been so long!"

"Hi, Yang," Sierra smiled, then walked over to the dining room, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. Hotel walked over as well, but instead, changed course to the kitchen as Yang took a seat opposite of Sierra, seating Flare on the table. The child stared at Sierra, then turned around to her mother and crawled onto her, causing Yang to laugh as Sierra stated, "Wow. The last time I saw her was when she was still lying on her back, looking around with wide-eyed enthusiasm."

"She's still looking around with a wide-eyed enthusiasm," Yang laughed as Hotel immediately began working on breakfast. Sierra glanced back at him, then turned back to Yang, who set Flare back on the table. There was a moment of silence as Yang tried to keep Flare still before Sierra asked, "How are you guys, nowadays?"

"We're still alive," Yang replied, "I still wanna travel, but this one's a handful."

"I can tell," Sierra smiled, "She's certainly not her father, that's for sure."

"I can hear you," Hotel called out.

"That's the point," Sierra replied, turning back at him, then turned back to Yang and Flare, the child finally seeming to get comfortable. Flare stared at Sierra, then slowly, but surely, began inching her way over to the silverette, ever so cautious. Yang chuckled to herself as Flare finally reached the other woman, touching her face. Sierra closed an eye as a hand went over, then smiled as Flare began crawling onto her.

"Well, at least she's a little brave," Sierra stated, pulling the child into her arms and onto her lap. Yang smiled, then turned her attention to Hotel, who was whistling as he did a very Ren-esque pancake flip. Sierra listened to the pancake hit the plate, then looked at Yang and asked, "When did he learn to cook?"

"I think it was around the time I got pregnant," Yang replied, "he didn't see it healthy that we were always eating out."

"Really? Well, that sound like a freakin' dilf to me," Sierra smirked, watching Yang smirk as well as the latter stated, "Well, I already said that to him earlier."

A couple minutes later, Hotel set three plates on the table and set down a stack of pancakes and another plate of bacon. Sierra raised an eyebrow in surprise as Yang salivated over the food. Hotel simply took a seat next to Yang and watched Flare stare at the pancake stack, chuckling at her as she then looked at Sierra. Sierra smiled down at her and plucked one of the pancakes off of the stack with a fork and gave Flare a piece, the child experimentally biting down on it.

"So what brings you around here?"

"What? Is it so wrong to come say 'hi' here and there?"

"I meant," Hotel clarified, "For someone who usually takes their jobs seriously, I'm kinda surprised you returned so quickly."

Sierra remained quiet, keeping her eyes on Flare, taking the pancake away from the child. She smiled softly, then looked up to see Yang say something about going to pick up the mail. The blonde then stood up and walked out of the house, prompting Sierra to say, "I rushed it cuz I wanted to tell you something."

"Hmm?"

"Well," Sierra began, "on my last mission, I was supposed to hunt down a man on the outskirts of the kingdom."

"Oh yeah? How'd that go?"

"Well, successful, obviously."

"No shit. Now get to the good stuff."

"Well, I'm not sure, but I got a hit."

Immediately, Hotel perked up.

"I'm not sure if it's true, but…," Sierra furrowed her brow and continued, "I'm pretty sure that they were talking about Delta."

Hotel blinked.

There were a couple tense moments before Yang came back, holding a letter to Hotel. Hotel, however, was too entranced at the thought of Delta being alive. Sierra stared at him, then sighed and said, "Look; it's just an assumption. I'm not certain if it's true or not, but keep quiet about it."

Yang glanced at Sierra, then back to Hotel, who was still in apparent shock.

"Babe? Something wrong?"

"He'll be alright," Sierra sighed, standing up. She then walked over to Yang and handed Flare over, the blonde taking her child. Sierra then stretched and groaned, then let out a sigh of relief and headed toward the door.

"Thanks for having me," Sierra stated, then left.

* * *

"Phew…," Hotel sighed, flopping onto his and Yang's bed. With their door and Flare's room's door open, Yang walked over several moments later and crawled onto him, resting on his chest. Hotel smiled and began running his hand through her hair, feeling a slight burning sensation as he ran it through. Blinking, he took his hand out and looked down at Yang, who sported an unimpressed look on her face as she asked, "What'd she say to you?"

"Huh?"

"Sierra," Yang continued, "what'd she say to you?"

"Nothing important," Hotel replied, wrapping an arm around Yang's waist. However, Yang simply sat up and straddled herself on his waist, her hands on his chest as she said, "Unimportant enough to send you into a state of shock, apparently."

Hotel blinked at his wife, her curves accented perfectly as she towered over him, despite being several inches shorter than him.

"C'mon babe, spill the goods."


	5. Easing up Sierra

**Hey, guys! I'm back...albeit briefly. For some reason, it seems like this installment isn't as popular as the other two...or people are just really quiet. Or maybe because school's back on, everyone's busy and can't read fanfiction. Meh. Whatever. Read on your own times guys. I do love that you guys enjoy this story though.**

 **By the way, Knight, I do try to respond to you guys, but please don't rush me. Thanks!**

* * *

"I see. Thank you."

"No problem. Though I do wonder...well…never mind."

"Is something wrong?"

Sierra contemplated explaining her situation to Ironwood, holding her scroll to her ear intently.

"Sierra?"

"Umm…sir, excuse me for asking, but…is Delta…really dead?"

There was a moment of silence between the two. Sierra kept the scroll to her ear, intent on an answer as the seconds turned into minutes. After about five or so, Ironwood finally said, "There was a blood pool with a trail that led from it. When our scouts traced the trail, it led to a sword with a broken blade, also covered in blood."

"But that doesn't mean-."

"We searched for weeks and weeks after, as well as tried to communicate with him. There is enough reason to believe that Delta Ordance is no longer with us," Ironwood finished. Sierra opened her mouth to argue again, but then closed it, clenching her free fist tightly as Ironwood said, "Now, please get some rest. I'll inform you as soon as possible as to what your next objective will be."

"…Yes sir," Sierra replied in a half growl, growing increasingly frustrated as the general finally hung up. Gritting her teeth, she angrily slid the scroll into her pocket, then punched a dumpster that she was standing next to. Growling, she turned around, about to make her way to Al's Tavern. However, she immediately ran into something, throwing her backwards a little. Quickly catching her balance, she was about to apologize before something wrapped itself around her. Blinking, she immediately comprehended that it was her own fiancé, Echo. She stared at the area behind him blankly as he pulled away a little, looking at her face as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You don't seem like it, love," Echo replied, pressing his forehead to hers. Sierra blinked, staring into his violet orbs. The eye contact stayed in place for the better part of a couple minutes before she closed her eyes and turned away, catching him by surprise as she said, "Echo, not now."

"Sierra," Echo said back, "you should come home."

"But I have things to do."

"That you can't do at home?"

"It's not that. I don't want to be distracted, is all," Sierra claimed, keeping her gaze averted. However, Echo didn't buy it, instead tightening his grip on her. Sierra looked back at him, her hands tempted to flip the switch as Echo said, "I'm worried about you, Si."

Sierra blinked, staring back at him. She was about to keep up her act before something chopped her on the back of her head, causing her to headbutt Echo, who in turn let go of her to cover his forehead with his hands. Sierra immediately turned around, an angry look on her face as she turned to see Scarlet, whistling away with her gaze toward the opposite direction. Angrily, Sierra began her walk toward her older sister, only to be stopped as the latter said, "Take some time off."

"The only time I need is enough to kill you!"

"Sakuya," Scarlet warned, turning to look at the younger woman, "I'm not suggesting you take time off. I'm telling you to."

"Why don't you start minding your own business?"

"Why don't you start paying attention to your fiancé?"

Sierra's anger immediately disappeared as Echo, finally recovering from the headbutt, felt his mood begin to degrade. He frowned and half-lidded his eyes, beginning to walk away. Sierra turned around, seeing him beginning his lonely walk as Scarlet approached her and said, "I'll take care of the technical things. It's been a while since you've been home, so relax."

"B…but…."

"But nothing. It's alright to take a little off the gas from time to time."

Sierra turned back to Scarlet, unsure. Scarlet shook her head and lightly chopped her younger sister again, getting a flinch from her as she said, "Spend as much time with your loved ones as possible. You never know when you, or they for that matter, will disappear."

Sierra opened her mouth to speak back, but was interrupted as Scarlet continued, "What would you do if Echo disappeared one day? Just like Delta?"

Unable to answer, Sierra stared at Scarlet. The older sibling scoffed and slapped her, catching her by surprise as she said, "Wake up, dammit! He's more depressed than ever and you're just gonna walk away from him!? I'm sick to my stomach to see that my younger sister is doing the same bullshit that I did!"

With that, Scarlet turned around and yelled, "Get your ass moving the other direction already! I'm not gonna take no for an answer! And if I so much as see your face at the tavern tonight, I'm gonna break your freakin' legs!"

* * *

Echo arrived at his little house, just outside of Vale, sighing as he reached for his house keys. As he pulled them out, however, the door opened, catching him by surprise as Sierra pulled him in. Blinking in surprise, the silverette looked up at him, then shut the door, pulling him into a tight hug.

"What the—I thought you were-?"

"Changed my mind," Sierra immediately answered, "Now don't make me regret it."

Echo felt a shiver go down his spine, then smiled as he returned the embrace.

Sierra pressed her head against his collar, closing her eyes as she sighed, a feeling of familiarity filling her being as Echo said, "It's…it's been hard without you, Si."

"I'm sorry," Sierra replied, relaxing her body.

The embrace stood for several minutes before Sierra said, "…Can you let go? I don't wanna accidentally stab you."

"Eh?"

Sierra immediately pushed herself away and walked over to an end table. Echo blinked, confused, before Sierra read his face and flicked a wrist, a blade shooting out from the bracer on her forearm, catching him by surprise. Sierra immediately looked away, flicking her wrist again, the blade retracting as she unbuckled both bracers and set them on the end table.

"What…the…?"

"It's…it was a gift," Sierra stated, keeping her gaze away from Echo. Said man blinked again, but then furrowed his brow as he walked over to her. Sierra, sensing his emotions, kept her eyes away, but then was caught by surprise as he pulled her into his lap as he flopped onto a nearby couch. Blinking, she looked back at him as he asked, "Just what have you been doing all this time?"

"I've…well…," Sierra averted her gaze again, unsure of how to answer him. Echo looked at her, then reached up and put his finger on her chin, turning her face to his. Sierra blinked at him, looking at his blank expression as he said, "Never mind. You probably don't want to talk about it."

"It's…it's not that…it's just…," Sierra stammered but was cut off before she could finish as Echo lightly pecked her lips. Blinking in surprise, she watched him quickly pull away, then felt a rushing sensation as he quickly dragged her down onto the couch, holding her tightly. Sierra relaxed herself almost immediately as she heard Echo sigh, feeling him tighten his grip on her. She then closed her eyes, snaking her arms around him as well as he said, "It feels like it's been too long."

"It has been," Sierra replied, trying to roll him onto his back. Echo, feeling her attempts, complied and watched as she rolled onto him and brushed a bang out of his face. Sierra blinked, then gave a small, subtle smile as she looked down at her soon-to-be-husband.

"Echo," Sierra said, only to be hushed by said man as he grasped the back of her head and pulled her down to a kiss. Sierra closed her eyes, feeling her lips touch his as she ran a hand through his hair, likewise with him to her. They pulled away briefly, then quickly returned to each other, deepening the kiss as Sierra slowly felt herself getting rolled over. She opened her eyes a little, then closed them as they both tumbled onto the floor, wrapping her arms around his neck as Echo pushed his tongue into her mouth. Gladly accepting it, Sierra felt him press his crotch against hers gently. She then used her tongue to play with his, both twirling and wrestling with each other in a long, belated reunion.

"Mm…mm…puoh…hah, Echo," Sierra breathed, looking into his eyes as he pulled away. Echo returned the gaze, a single strand of saliva keeping their mouths connected before he went crashing down on her again, going straight for a tongue kiss. Sierra gladly accepted it again, wrapping her legs around his thighs as she felt his hard-on press against her crotch through their pants. Echo pulled away almost too quickly for her liking, getting a groan is disagreement from her as he said, "let's take it to the bedroom, love."


	6. Midnight Glint

**Hello again, everybody! Two weeks later and school's already kicking my ass (lol). Meh. Just gotta work a little harder to keep up with this and my classes. So here's chapter 6. I hope you guys enjoy, and I'll see y'all later.**

* * *

 **3rd POV**

* * *

Sierra groaned, the rays of the sun beating down brutally on her eye lids.

"…why…is the bed…so close to the window…?"

Echo groaned in return, flipping over and throwing an arm over her. Sierra smiled, gripping his arm reassuringly. She could sense his smile as she repositioned herself, going into a backwards spoon with him. The two laid in bed, simply admiring each other's presence as the sound of chirping birds from outside lightly filled the room.

"Still…nn…amazing as ever…," Echo said quietly, his smile ceasing to leave as he pulled Sierra in closer.

"'Amazing as ever,'" Sierra repeated, "does that mean you've been cheating on me?"

"Maaaybe," Echo joked.

"Then perhaps it's time to cut off your di-?"

"No no, of course I haven't," Echo chuckled. Sierra chuckled back, then turned her head back to face him, lightly pecking his lips. Echo smiled into the light kiss, then finally opened his eyes, seeing her open hers as well. They both shared a brief gaze into each other's eyes before Sierra turned away and said, "I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed these moments."

Before Echo could reply, however, a scroll began ringing. Sierra blinked, then sighed as she slipped out of Echo's grasp, going to her discarded shorts. She pulled out her scroll and walked back over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it as she answered.

"Sierra here."

"Mornin' sis."

"Scarlet?"

"Just thought I'd let you know that Ironwood was an asshole," Scarlet sighed, then began explaining the situation to Sierra. The younger woman listened intently, Echo sitting up in concern as Sierra nodded, then said, "Alright. Bye."

"What's up?"

"Business," Sierra sighed, standing up again. Echo stared at her, running his eyes up and down her bare back, down to her ass, then down her legs, and back up. Sierra, seemingly sensing his gaze, turned around and covered her chest and said, "That's rude, you know."

"I can't help it," Echo chuckled as he stood up and hugged her from behind. Sierra smiled and grasped his arms, resting her head on his collar. She heard him chuckle again, then heard him ask, "Shower time?"

* * *

Once again, Lima sat at the Lancer-Xiao Long household, watching over Flare as the child's parents went at it in another sparring session. Ruby sat alongside her, playing with said child as Hotel went on the defensive once again, parrying all of Yang's punches. Fireballs flew everywhere in the area between them and Lima, who made sure that no fireballs reached Flare.

"Say, Lima."

"Yes?"

Lima turned around and looked at Ruby, who was on her back holding Flare in the air.

"I have a job coming up soon if you wanna come with," Ruby stated, waving Flare to and fro. Lima kept her eyes on the other woman, then turned around and slapped away a fireball, hissing in discomfort as her aura sparked off of her hand. She then glared at the sparring parents, who froze in fear at the wolf faunus, then sighed as she stood up and stretched. Looking up into the air, she heard the familiar clanging of metal again as the parents resumed their sparring, then answered, "Sure."

* * *

Footsteps filled the air.

Lima walked side-by-side with Ruby, looking left to right, maintaining her awareness of potential sneak attacks.

"Thanks again, Lima," Ruby stated, receiving a nod from the faunus. Watching the faunus's ears dart from left to right, she gripped her Crescent Rose, wary of their surroundings. Lima could hear the footsteps of Grimm all over, from scared younglings nearby, to savage, bloodthirsty adults hunting in the distance. Turning back to Ruby, Lima raised her hand, then lowered it, signaling that the coast was clear.

Relaxing, Ruby glanced around, the sun beginning to set as she pulled out a map and opened it, taking a look at where they were.

"Looks like the nearest village is still a day away," Ruby stated, putting the map away. Lima nodded, then walked over to a tree and sat at the base. Ruby reciprocated, sitting next to her as the soft rustling of leaves filled the air. Looking up at the tree tops, she could faintly see the cracked Remnant moon through the leaves, a smile gracing her face as she remembered how Delta would always compare it to her eyes.

"…Delta…."

Lima turned to look at the young woman, who had shut her eyes, her breathing soft in apparent slumber. She blinked, then smiled as she looked at Ruby's smile. Compared to most other nights, this was really the first night that she had seen Ruby so much at peace.

* * *

As midnight struck, both young woman sat, sleeping next to each other, almost unaware of what was going on.

Fast moving footsteps filled the still air as a crow began cawing. Heavy breathing followed as the sound of flapping wings came right after. Loud snarling was quick after as a raptor-like Grimm, covered in armor on its back and arms, as well as a single, large spike protruding from both shoulders and many small ones running down the length of its tail, burst out from the underbrush, sniffing around. It glanced left, then right, then again as another burst out right after it, repeating the process. Another one followed, then finally, a fourth coming in from the side.

The new species of Grimm immediately began "talking" via chirps, snarls, and other sorts of noises as one picked up feelings of grief and sadness. Immediately, its senses went into high sensory as it took off, the other three close behind as it made a sharp turn. A single, short screech was signaled by the lead Grimm, causing two of the others to break off to the left. The other broke right as the lead went straight ahead, then stopped, spotting two huntresses sleeping at the base of a tree.

It gave a low growl as the two who broke left snuck into view, their eyes on the treasure. They waited several moments as one of the huntresses repositioned herself into a more vulnerable position, causing the lead to let out a loud growl. Immediately, the two burst out from their hiding spot, teeth and claws ready to kill. The lead quickly followed, jaws open as well as it opened its clawed hands, ready to tear through flesh.

Just then a weak call filled the air.

The Grimm stopped, recognizing the call as one of their own as they all turned to the right.

The one Grimm that broke right limped pathetically along, a sword in its thigh as the two others ran up to inspect it. The lead Grimm, however, stayed in place, watching the two prey intensely as the three immediately began squabbling, the one with the wound not wanting the sword to be removed.

However, the whining was suddenly stopped.

The two, who had backed off, stared in apparent shock as the wounded Grimm's head slowly fell off. Then, in a flash, one of the two had a small throwing knife in its skull, dropping it immediately. This was immediately followed up by the third getting beheaded as a huntsman slashed his sword clean of Grimm blood, then turned to look at the lead. The lead Grimm turned toward the new threat, letting out a loud raspy roar as the huntsman simply grinned, then raised his sword.

* * *

" _Ruby."_

"…"

" _Ruby."_

"…nn…"

" _Ruuuby."_

"…mmm…"

" _C'mon. You can't stay here."_

"Hmm…?"

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry as she saw what appeared to be a silhouette. Looking up, she saw the outline of a man, traces of deep purple apparent. She watched as the man's breath hitched, then watched his lips curve into a smile as he stepped away. Looking away, she rubbed her eyes as the man raised a hand. However, when her vision was finally clear, nobody stood before her, catching her off guard.

"Wha…what the…?"

Ruby immediately stood up, confused, then spotted a couple black blotches that were very apparent Grimm corpses that had long since melted away. Startled, she immediately drew Crescent Rose, prepared to fight.

The sound of the scythe unfolding immediately alarmed Lima, who pulled out her axe in rifle-mode, scanning the area. However, all that she saw was Ruby, standing in a ready position, and the couple of black blotches on the ground. Lowering her weapon, she suddenly caught a familiar scent. Blinking, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath through her nose, catching the scent again. Opening her eyes, she immediately began walking toward Ruby, thinking it was her. However, Ruby was far from the scent, throwing the wolf girl into confusion as she closed her eyes again and took another deep breath.

Ruby simply stared at the wolf girl, then gawked and chased after her after she suddenly took off in a random direction.

"Lima what-!?"

Lima, however, ignored Ruby, too focused on the scent. This scent…it was so familiar. It was so…relieving.

And just like that, she lost the trail.

Gasping for air, she looked around, then took another deep breath, trying to catch onto it again. However, just as quickly as she had caught onto it, it seemingly vanished. She couldn't find it anymore.

"Who was that…?"

Lima's ears folded as she immediately touched her chin, trying to remember what the scent was.

"Lima….gasp…wait…up…!"

Ruby slowly came into view, putting her hands on her knees. Lima, surprised, turned around and faced the other woman. She watched as Ruby gasped for air, putting a hand against a tree.

"…Poor conditioning?"

Ruby slowly looked up and nodded, replying, "It's…been a while…since I've ran…!"

Lima blinked, comprehending what she said, then began laughing to herself. Ruby, flustered, finally caught her breath as Lima's ears perked up, hearing voices.

"A village," Lima stated, Ruby walking up to her.

"That's our first stop," Ruby replied, taking the lead.


	7. Truth to Sierra

**Welcome back, and thanks for keeping up with the story! Honestly, I can't tell if this is a bad story or not at this point, but I'll just assume it's interesting enough where you guys are still reading it. After all, I don't want to have another _Remnant_ dilemma. Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I'll catch you guys later.**

* * *

"The usual please."

Al slid a drink down his bar toward Sierra, who caught it with ease as people all around laughed whole-heartedly. Children continued to play in the corner with Rosaline keeping watch as the parents had a jolly time. Sierra looked around, the tavern having barely changed between then and now.

"I'm surprised you haven't renovated the place yet, Al," Sierra stated, taking a sip of her drink. Al, who had long since grown a somewhat scruffy beard, simply chuckled as he made another drink for a customer a little way down from Sierra. Sierra observed the owner's physical features, taking note of the white streaks in his hair, chuckling to herself.

"By the way," Al stated, "I think your sister's still in the meeting room."

"Scarlet?"

Surprised, Sierra stood up and walked over to the meeting room, opening the door. Sure enough, Scarlet was sleeping in a chair at the meeting table, her scroll left open, with some soft music playing. Blinking, Sierra giggled to herself and walked over, tapping the woman's shoulder.

Scarlet immediately flinched, then sat up, alarmed.

"Calm down, Scarlet," Sierra said with a smile, "It's just me."

"Oh…Sakuya…I thought you were someone else," Scarlet replied, looking at her scroll. She then grabbed it and put it away, killing the music as she stood up and stretched. Sierra raised an eyebrow as Scarlet let out a mewl of comfort, then let out an exaggerated sigh as she said, "That paperwork last night was brutal."

"Almost like taking an exam at Beacon, huh," Sierra stated before taking a seat. Scarlet looked down at her, then took her seat and asked, "Enjoy your night off?"

"I'd say so," Sierra replied, then asked, "So what'd Ironwood want me to do this time?"

Scarlet sat down again and plucked her scroll out of her pocket, a projection coming up as she said, "Go to that village, kill the guy, and get out."

"As usual," Sierra frowned, then looked up and saw that her target was a faunus. Blinking, she sighed and froze time, left the room, grabbed her drink, walked back, and sat back down, unfreezing time again. She watched the contents in the cup and swirled it, watching the ice go around as she stated, "Now I feel like the bad guy."

"That's kinda because you are," Scarlet replied, catching Sierra's attention.

"Mindlessly following your orders, going around killing guys because they're guerilla members of the White Fang or whatever," Scarlet continued, "It can almost be considered evil. All you're doing is just following orders and seeing them through under the impression that the enemy has no morals or feelings. And it's true; some don't care, and some are just hired guns. But occasionally, you'll run across one that has a family, is doing the job because they're desperate, etcetera."

"What're you trying to get at?"

"I'm saying that you're nothing but a mindless killer," Scarlet stated, catching Sierra off guard. The latter's breath hitched as time seemingly slowed down. Her grip faltered and her cup began falling, shattering on the ground. Scarlet's eyes stayed on Sierra, an unnatural seriousness in her gaze as she said, "Sakuya, you're letting yourself be a tool right now. Make your own choices."

Scarlet then stood up and walked over to her, bending down and picking up the broken glass shards. Sierra stayed in a state of shock, still comprehending Scarlet's statement as the latter then said, "How'd you become a leader, anyway? With how you're acting, I'm surprised your team stayed together for so long."

"I…," Sierra stated, just starting to comprehend Scarlet's words, "I'm…a…killer?"

Scarlet looked up at her younger sibling, then sighed and stood back up, placing the shards on the table. Looping her arms around the silverette, Scarlet closed her eyes and began petting the back of Sierra's head, feeling the tension in her body. A moment of silence ensued before Scarlet stated, "We're all huntsmen and huntresses, so it can't be avoided. Also, take it from someone who has experience."

"H…huh?"

"You know, when we were fighting against each other," Scarlet continued, "I was on an assignment that required me to stay quiet and fight against my former allies. As much as I didn't like it, I stayed as a doll, simply following my orders. However, after our first fight, I began questioning my mission, which is why I was helping you out at the prison."

Sierra remained silent, her mind working slowly as Scarlet continued with her story.

"When I accepted that mission, I was told to fit in with the enemy, even fighting against my friends. Before I knew it, I was fighting against everyone; Ozpin, Ironwood, everyone. Then at Vacuo, when I fought you, I realized just how much I hated what I was doing. It was just the mindless slaughter of potential 'threats.'"

"B…but…but that's…."

"Nothing but mindless slaughter, Sakuya," Scarlet sighed, putting a hand on Sierra's shoulder, "I don't want you to become the next me."

* * *

Lima's ears twitched as she sat at the table she and Ruby were seated at. Ruby simply stared at a sheet of paper, reading what their assignment was since the man who had given them the assignment was the village chief himself. Lima's ears darted again, listening to a group of men talking about her and Ruby in a disgusting manner, causing her to sigh and perk her ears upwards in alarm. She then heard them talk about her listening in on them, then smiled to herself when they said they'd best be quiet.

"Atta girl," Ruby giggled, then flipped the paper to Lima, who in turn wagged her ears happily. Going over the assignment details, she then looked up at Ruby, who was sipping away at a cup of milk through a straw, causing her to giggle at her companion. Ruby shot a glance at her, confused, but was turned away when Lima motioned the, "it's nothing" sign.

Finishing her milk, Ruby turned her gaze back outside the window, seeing a family across the street laughing happily. Blinking, she stared at them, imagining it being her and Delta with their future children having a good time. After several minutes, she sighed, then turned back to Lima, then rested her head on her arms.

"…Ruby?"

"I'm fine," Ruby replied immediately, glancing toward a group of huntsmen who were just having a good time.

"…Do you miss them?"

"Huh? Miss who?"

"Your team."

"Yeah. Well, I miss them all the time."

Lima blinked, then smiled and leaned her head onto her hand, glancing toward the window again.

"…Hey, Lima?"

"Yes?"

"When you were running earlier…what were you chasing?"

Lima turned to face Ruby, who still had her gaze averted. Lima kept her eyes on Ruby, thinking about her answer. Ruby kept her eyes on the group of huntsmen, watching as they stood up and began walking off, remembering her time with the old Team RWBY.

"It's because," Lima stated, "There was a scent."

Ruby slowly turned her attention to Lima.

"Something familiar," Lima continued, "Couldn't quite…remember."

"Remember what?"

"Remember…what it was," Lima finished, closing her eyes as she remembered the scent. It was so familiar, like she was extremely fond of it. It made her feel happy in a sense, being able to smell it again. Almost like she had found something that she had lost a long time ago.

"Lima? You still there?"

Immediately, Lima snapped back to Remnant, shook her head to clear her thoughts, then replied, "I'm…I'm still here."

Ruby giggled to herself as Lima glanced around, then turned back to the red-head, giving a smile.


	8. A Change of Pace

**I'm half-tempted to be mean, honestly. I'm so about to be ripping off another weapon here. Anyway, here's 8 for ya, and I hope y'all enjoy. Catch y'all later!**

* * *

Sierra sighed, staring down at the town that she had been assigned to watch. Changing pace a little, she decided to stop with the assassinations and opted to take a more practical mission that more fit her line of work; being a huntress. Flicking her wrist blades, she stared on out of boredom, paying close attention to any potential Grimm attack.

"Glad to see you're changing pace," Scarlet stated, sitting down next to her. Sierra simply grunted and shrugged, keeping her eyes on the townsfolk below. She watched on, the town reminding her very much of the many villages that she had been to for certain missions, a few odd jobs, etcetera. Just then, another voice, this one younger, said to her, "Thanks for bringing us along, sis."

Sierra rolled her eyes, unable to contain her grin as Sakura, her younger sister, dropped down next to her. Somewhere in the town was the younger sister's team, to which Sierra couldn't remember the name to save the life of her, possibly trying to pick up the odd young lady here and there. Being a group of young men that was the basic equivalent of the former Team SSSN minus Sakura, it wouldn't have even surprised her.

"Ah, right, I forgot you were here, Sakura," Scarlet stated in surprise, looking at the basic younger mirror image of Sierra. Sakura simply smiled and waved her hello, having gotten close over the past two years. Scarlet smiled back, then turned down toward the town, enjoying the view as she said, "Look at us; three sisters enjoying some quality family time."

Serra simply chuckled and leaned forward onto her knees, watching as the sun reached midday. She then flopped onto her back and began staring at the sky, remembering the old times with Team SHLD, their interactions with Team RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, their spats with the old Team MGNM and SWRD at their earlier existence, and finally when they graduated, their many missions together in the time together two years ago.

"Something on your mind?"

"Not at all," Sierra answered Scarlet, "Just reminiscing."

"Oh? Miss the old times?"

"Obviously," Sierra laughed, "They're my old team!"

Both Sakura and Scarlet blinked in surprise, turned to each other, then back to Sierra, giggling at her. Sierra immediately sat back up and looked at them both, first at Sakura, then at Scarlet, then raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sakura immediately began laughing as Scarlet purred in satisfaction as she said, "It's been a while since I've heard you laugh, Sakuya."

Sierra blinked, comprehending the statement as Sakura leaned onto her, resting on her shoulder.

"…huh. It has been, hasn't it," Sierra stated to herself, finding herself leaning onto Scarlet, who looked at her in surprise. The little domino effect of the two younger sisters caused the eldest to smile as she leaned against them a little, keeping them upright.

* * *

Lima's senses were on overdrive.

She could hear everything.

Every breath.

Every footstep.

Every heartbeat.

Every time a drop of _blood_ hit the ground.

Raising her hand, she pointed toward her 12 o'clock, then slowly began moving it, slowly keying in on her target. Opening her eyes, she immediately looked toward her 10, her pupils immediately adjusting as her eyes picked up the slightest hint of black of a wounded Grimm, slowly made its way away from her. Picking up her axe, she began walking after it, taking her time as the Grimm's pained breathing filled her ears, almost like music as the faunus girl grinned. She hadn't always had a sadistic side, but being a wolf, she almost couldn't help but play with her prey before the kill.

The Grimm, a raptor-like Grimm, glanced back, limping away with a large gash in its thigh, watching the huntress walk along after her. Letting out a loud snarl, it tried to limp away faster, only making Lima's grin widen. She chuckled to herself, her ears pointed upwards with excitement as her target eventually sat down next against a tree, too exhausted from blood loss.

Approaching her target, Lima immediately switched her axe to rifle mode and shot the base of the tail, causing the Grimm to let out a shriek of pain as she continued shooting through, eventually completely shooting it clean off its body. She then switched her weapon back to axe mode and hacked off the creature's feet, picking up the large toe claw. The Grimm's breath slowly began growing quicker as Lima tossed the toe up and down on her hand, staring at it with a sadistic grin as she dropped the toe claw and raised her axe.

One shriek later, the Grimm's body began dissipating as Lima began looking around for Ruby, having split up with the other huntress to cover more ground.

Looking around, Lima tried to get a bearing of how far she had walked, trying to retrace her steps, proceeding a routine of taking a couple steps before taking in a deep breath of air, trying to catch the scent of her fellow huntress. It was something that she had gotten used to after months of going out with Hotel, who had gotten into the habit of charging in head first to keep anyone else from getting hurt, most namely Yang. Lima immediately smirked and thought, _"Then again, they're both hard headed."_

Just then, Ruby's scent appeared behind her, causing the faunus to turn around as the said huntress walked through a couple bushes and let out a relieved sigh. Lima blinked, immediately taking note of the cut on Ruby's forearm as the latter said, "Thank goodness that's done!"

"…Ruby?"

Ruby wiped the sweat from her brow as Lima approached her and took her forearm, catching her by surprise as the latter inspected the wound. Lima proceeded to stare at it for about thirty seconds before she reached into a side pouch she had been carrying and pulled out bandaging, wrapping it tightly on Ruby's arm. Ruby blinked in surprise, apparently having not noticed the cut as Lima put the bandaging away, then looked up at the former's face and said, "…be more careful."

"Ehe, yeah," Ruby replied, grinning sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. Lima blinked, then smiled at the somewhat clumsy act from Ruby, then said, "Back to the village?"

* * *

"Thank you so much," the village chief stated, getting bows of appreciation from the two huntresses. The chief bowed back, then continued, "These new, strange Grimm have been giving our village some problems. They have already taken three lives. It's a welcome relief to see them finally exterminated."

"You're welcome," Ruby replied, "But are you sure there were only five? It looks like there were at least nine."

"Ah, right, about that," the chief explained, "Another huntsman actually came by and hunted down all but the five."

"What?"

Ruby and Lima both blinked in surprise as the chief then continued, "Yes. He said something about two huntresses that were probably going to be passing by. Maybe he was talking about you two?"

"Another huntsman? But who could've…?"

Lima blinked and turned to Ruby, watching her confused look, then turned back to the chief and asked, "…How did he…look like?"

"Huh? Hmm...he was a swordsman. However, probably the most striking feature about him was his amethyst-colored eyes."

Immediately, Lima flinched and stiffed. Ruby did the same, her breath hitching as the chief continued, "He was an excellent swordsman, but he didn't leave his name. He just said that he was a swordsman passing by."

Immediately, Lima turned to Ruby, who did the same, the both of them thinking the same thing as Ruby turned back to the chief and asked, "Did he say where he was going next?"

"Hmm…unfortunately, he did not," the chief replied, causing the girls to sigh in disappointment. The chief, however, simply smiled and said, "Please, get some rest. You'll need it before you head back home."

* * *

 **So just a quick A/N; do y'all want me to do a weekly update kind of thing? Honestly, I'm literally like 2 chapters ahead because I keep waiting for a certain number of views before I actually update the next chapter. I was thinking like an upload every week or so, but I'll only do it if I get positive feedback from you guys. So please, feel free to shoot a PM or even drop a review, and I'll see y'all later!**


	9. Sister Bonding

**Alright, y'all, here's the verdict; I think I'll start doing weekly updates if I have the chapters written and done beforehand because I obviously have nothing better to do...than go procrastination pro on my homework (lol). So here's the next chapter for you guys. Hope y'all enjoy, and I'll catch y'all later!**

* * *

"So Lima…."

"Yes?"

"What do you think?"

"Hmm?"

Lima turned to face Ruby, who continued, "About that huntsman, I mean."

Lima blinked, then continued walking as she answered, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know…what to think of it," Lima continued, "Could it…be Delta? Possibly. But there's…a lot of other huntsman…who match that hatch."

"How's that possible?"

"Well…Yang has purple eyes, right?"

Ruby blinked, then sighed and nodded. Lima's ears sagged a little at the depressed sigh, causing her to stop. Ruby, who had been following along behind her, accidentally ran into her, catching both of them off guard as they tumbled to the ground. Looking at each other, they blinked, then began laughing as Lima stood up and helped Ruby back to her feet. Lima then smiled, her ears still sagging sadly as she said, "I…want to believe…he's alive as well."

Ruby smiled, then clasped both of her hands over Lima's, catching the faunus by surprise. Closing her eyes, Ruby immediately began reminiscing about the good times she and Delta had, their final goodbye, then the news that he was gone. But deep in her heart, she knew he was alive. It was very possible that he might not be the same person, but she knew that he was still alive.

"I know he's alive," Ruby stated, "I just know it."

* * *

Sierra flicked a knife up and down, staring on the town as the sun slowly began to set. Sakura and Scarlet had long since gone to do some shopping, leaving her to herself as she stayed guard, hearing the roars of Grimm in the distance. It wasn't something she was new to for obvious reasons, but for some reason, this time felt a little different.

With one final flick, she caught it, then flicked her wrist and opened a now-empty wrist blade and clicked the knife back into the holder, flicking her wrist again to sheath it. she then kicked herself off her seat, falling down a short distance before sliding down the roof of a building before jumping onto the ground.

"Flashy as usual."

Looking over her shoulder, Sierra spotted Scarlet, who was leaned up against a wall while drinking from a mug. Sierra raised an eyebrow in confusion as Scarlet continued drinking in a very Ozpin-esque way, approaching the young woman. Turning around, Sierra crossed her arms and scoffed as Scarlet said, "Sakura's exhausted thanks to her boys."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well, they're really a handful," Scarlet continued, "Apparently they were trying for weeks to get in her pants."

"Ugh…gross," Sierra spat, sliding her hands into her pockets. Scarlet kept her eyes on her younger sister, taking another sip from the mug before setting it on a nearby crate. Sierra took note of the action as Scarlet asked, "How're you feeling?"

"Huh?"

"How're you feeling?"

"I heard you the first time," Sierra sighed, "But what do you mean?"

"Like," Scarlet clarified, "What do you think about this job?"

"Oh…well, it certainly feels different, that's for sure," Sierra answered, taking her hands out of her pockets and putting them behind her head. Scarlet smiled, then hopped onto the crate, patting the spot next to her. Sierra turned to the woman, then sighed and dropped her hands as she walked over and hopped onto the spot that Scarlet had patted, taking a seat next to her. Almost immediately, Scarlet wrapped an arm around her, catching her by surprise as the woman then said, "It's okay."

* * *

" _It's okay."_

 _Sakuya glanced up, her eyes wet and red as Scarlet ran her hand through the young girl's hair. A soft smile gazed down at the small silverette as Scarlet pulled her into a tight hug, smothering the child in her chest. Sakuya blinked, then dug her face into her older sister's shirt as Scarlet began humming a soft tune, picking up her younger sister and carrying her to her room._

" _It's okay. It's alright. Big sister's here for you."_

* * *

"Something on your mind?"

"Mm," Sierra shook her head, then leaned onto Scarlet, smiling at the memory.

Scarlet immediately took notice of the smile, causing her to smile as well as the sounds of the night filled the air.

"…Hey, Scarlet?"

"Yes?"

"Have you visited mom recently?"

"I have."

"And?"

"All that happy reunion yada yada yada," Scarlet giggled, then turned to Sierra, who was looking up at her expectantly. With another giggle, Scarlet released her grip on Sierra, then squished her cheeks together, catching the latter by surprise as the former said, "You're an adult now, but you still have a baby face."

"Wha!?"

Scarlet's smile widened as she released her grip before Sierra could swipe at her arms. Scarlet then crossed her arms and turned away, smiling victoriously as Sierra glared, then sighed and relaxed, leaning backwards on her arms as she looked up and said, "Well, I guess I can't complain."

"Hmm?"

"I broke up Team SHLD because I couldn't bear to keep us together, now that Delta's gone," Sierra continued, "I also neglected Echo because I was so hellbent on getting revenge that I acted like a doll; just doing whatever I was told to do, even if the job was less than stellar."

With a sigh, Sierra leaned forward onto her knees.

"At least Hotel and Lima are happy."

"Are they?"

Sierra glanced up at Scarlet, who had picked up the mug again. Taking another sip from it, Scarlet let out a sigh of satisfaction and put the mug down again. Scarlet then turned back to Sierra and said, "Just because you can smile and have a good laugh doesn't necessarily mean that you're happy."

"What do you mean?"

"You do it the best," Scarlet continued, "you put the happiness of others before yours, even if it means you become a doll, feel depressed, etcetera."

Sierra opened her mouth to argue, but then immediately shut it, knowing all too well that Scarlet was right.

"It's okay," Scarlet said, pulling Sierra into another hug, "I'm here, Sakuya. I'm right here."

* * *

" _I'm right here, Sakuya. Big sister's right here."_

 _Sakuya blinked, trying to stay awake as Scarlet continued petting her hair._

 _Scarlet continued humming softly as the child's breathing slowly softened, her eyes closing as Scarlet moved her to a better sleeping position._

" _Sleep well, baby sister," Scarlet whispered, kissing Sakuya's cheek before leaving the bedroom._

* * *

"Just relax," Scarlet stated, "It's okay to slow down every now and then."

Sierra blinked, then sighed and relaxed herself.

"Scarlet-."

Just then, the roar of a Grimm filled the air, catching their attention. Sierra immediately jumped off the crate, alarmed as the sound of footsteps and shouting filled the air. Scarlet took one last sip from her mug, then casually got onto her feet as Sierra began looking around, then took off toward the commotion. Scarlet simply glanced down at her mug, then sighed and threw the cup backwards and said, "This oughta be good."

* * *

Lima immediately stopped, her ears perking at the sound of Grimm roaring in the distance. Closing her eyes, she raised a hand, slowly moving it to the right, slowly pinpointing the source of the noise. Her ears perked again as she stopped her hand, confident in her direction as she opened her eyes and looked at a path that led off the main road.

Ruby, confused, looked down the side road and asked, "Something wrong?"

"Grimm," Lima replied, drawing her axe as she sprinted down the road. Ruby didn't thing twice as she began sprinting after the faunus, drawing Crescent Rose.

* * *

Chaos erupted everywhere as Sierra jumped in the air, throwing another knife through yet another Beowolf's skull, followed up by Scarlet giving it a dropkick through a building. Sierra then ducked, narrowly avoiding losing her head as she unsheathed a wristblade and stabbed it upwards into another's skull, proceeding to kick off of it as she went back to back with Scarlet.

"Well, there's a whole lot of them," Scarlet stated, a grin on her face. Sierra grinned back, but then quickly wiped it off her face as she replied, "C'mon; be serious."

"Oh, trust me sis," Scarlet stated, biting her thumb, "I'm always serious."

Suddenly, Scarlet disappeared.

At that exact moment, all the Grimm that had surrounded them were either in pieces or had a giant hole in them.

Scarlet suddenly reappeared, tapping her foot against the ground as she said, "Phew! Been a while since I did that!"

Sierra smirked, then froze time as another wave appeared around them. She then proceeded to run in a circle, surrounding her and Scarlet with knives pointed outward before stopping behind her older sibling, crossing her arms as she unfroze time. With a snap of her fingers, the knives suddenly shot from their positions, Grimm blood spraying everywhere around them, causing Scarlet to whistle as Sierra said, "Don't show me up, now."

"Fine, fine," Scarlet replied, giggling as another Beowolf flew past them, catching their attention. Sakura patted her hands together as she approached her older sisters, an optimistic smile on her face as she said, "Quite the mess, eh?"

Sierra simply rolled her eyes and smiled as she said, "Great. The only thing worse than having one sibling show you up. Having TWO show you up."

Both Sakura and Scarlet giggled as the trio went on to clear the town of Grimm.


	10. Rose In Danger

**Howdy everybody! Hope y'all have been doing alright. I'm still going procrastination pro on my homework XP but hey, I love typing this story. Anyway, somebody tell me to stop watching Final Fantasy XII. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Thank you, ladies!"

"No problem," Sierra replied, "It's our job after all."

The leader, however, continued to thank the three girls for the job they had done in clearing the town of Grimm. Sierra took a step back as the man continuously bowed, pushing Scarlet forward as she began surveying the damage. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.

"Oi."

A pat on the shoulder later, Sierra looked at Scarlet, who said, "That wasn't very nice."

Sierra turned away from Scarlet, then said, "Tell me something."

"Hmm?"

"Does something feel…off?"

* * *

Ruby and Lima continued sprinting toward the source of the explosion. The occasional odd Grimm here and there were immediately struck down before they could comprehend the two huntress as they slowly made their way towards the town, where there was a single fume of smoke in the air.

"Almost there!"

Just then, Lima caught onto a scent she knew very well. She blinked, then slowly began picking up her speed, catching Ruby by surprise as they reached the town, warriors and townsfolk all joyously chattering amongst each other. However, Lima's attention was on someone else. A silverette who was talking to her crimson-haired older sister.

"Sierra!"

Sierra, surprised, turned around and got tackled to the ground. Letting out a grunt of pain, Lima immediately smothered her face in Sierra's chest, causing the silverette to laugh and pet her former teammate's head.

Scarlet, surprised, raised her eyebrows, watching her younger sister interacting with the faunus, then turned to face Ruby, who was just catching up, putting her hands on her knees as she gasped for air.

"You're out of shape, aren't you," Scarlet stated, chuckling to herself. Ruby didn't answer, still trying to catch her breath as she gave a thumbs up, signaling that she was alright. Scarlet chuckled again and walked over to the other red head, lifting Ruby's face as she said, "Silver. Hmm."

"Eh?"

"Nothing. Just talking to myself," Scarlet replied, letting go of Ruby's chin as Lima finally finished smothering Sierra, the latter patting herself down as she got back up. Immediately, Sierra turned her attention to Ruby, who had just caught her breath and asked, "Ruby? What're you doing here?"

"I was on a mission with Lima," Ruby replied, "we were at a village not far from here."

"Really? Well, honestly, I'm glad you guys are here," Sierra stated, taking another look around. Lima, confused, approached her former leader, who then turned to her. Sierra's gaze immediately became serious as she said, "Lima. Scan the area."

"Huh? Umm…okay," Lima replied, closing her eyes and blocking out every sense minus her smell and hearing. She could hear the conversations of many people, the groups of people who were walking around, the trudging of boots as huntsmen and mercenaries walked around, as well as the distant growls of Grimm. Lima opened her eyes and shrugged, confused as to what Sierra was looking for. However, said ex-leader gave a sterner look and said, "Listen harder."

Lima didn't complain and closed her eyes again, listening harder. The Grimm growls amplified slightly, followed by the sound of a motorcycle. Furrowing her brow, Lima listened closer, thinking it was Yang. However, the longer she listened, the more evident it became that it wasn't just one motorcycle. Opening her eyes, she immediately ran for the front gate, to which to others followed suit and peered into the distance. She could see a cloud of dust flying towards them, causing her to squint and try to see into it.

Sierra blinked at Lima, then heard the rumbling of engines driving ever closer to them. Looking into the distance, she also spotted the cloud, albeit not as well as Lima, but kept her eyes on it. Raising an eyebrow, Sierra unsheathed her hidden blades, on high alert as Scarlet purred, interested in the cloud. Ruby drew Crescent Rose, staying on guard as the engine rumbling came ever closer.

Just then, a Beowolf appeared, about to bite Lima's head off. The faunus, caught off guard, turned to face the Grimm, watching as Sierra shoved her blade into its skull and slammed it to the ground, stabbing it again for safe measure. Spinning out of Sierra's way, Lima immediately dropped back to Ruby's side, going back to back with her as Scarlet jumped back to join them, taking a stance as she said, "oooh, the epic three-way back to back!"

"No time for jokes," Lima stated, drawing her axe and ducking as Ruby swung Crescent Rose to where the wolf had just ducked, shooting another Beowolf in the face. Lima, likewise, pointed her axe-now-turned-rifle back to where Ruby had been facing, picking off another. The two continued the cycle for several seconds, causing Scarlet to sigh as she said, "Wow, you two are boring-."

Just then, a something flew in and connected with the older red-head's cheek, sending her flying into the boundary wall of the town with an explosion.

Surprised, Sierra turned around, narrowly dodging a flurry of punches as a motorcycle suddenly blew past her. Ruby immediately took notice and tackled Lima to the side, the motorcycle flying past them as a figure jumped off, landing in front of them. Ruby glanced up, then saw a gun barrel pointed right at her as the figure before her chuckled, then said in a feminine voice, "So the rumors _were_ true. There _is_ still someone with silver eyes around."

Ruby, confused, kept her focus on the gun barrel as Sierra engaged the other figure, a muscular man whose bracers encased his entire fist, unlike Yang's Ember Celica. It also lacked the signature shotgun feature that Ember Celica also carried, but instead released compressed air to increase the speed of his punches. Sierra's grunts filled the air as she struggled to keep up with the man's pace, her knives scraping off the man's bracers as she deflected punch after punch.

The figure before them chuckled again and cocked what appeared to be a revolver's hammer as she said, "Now, you'll only be a nuisance in the near future. I shall rid us of it."

Lima, who had been knocked out slightly from the tackle, immediately stirred as the figure then said, "Goodbye."

Just then, the wolf faunus pointed her rifle up and fired, the figure narrowly dodging as they leaned backwards. Immediately, Ruby jumped off of Lima and engaged, locking Crescent Rose against what appeared to be a long-barreled revolver. The figure, now revealed to be a woman, chuckled again as Ruby asked, "Who are you!?"

"That is none of your concern," the woman replied as she kicked Ruby away, then spun out of the way of Lima's bullets before firing a few rounds at the wolf, who rolled out of the way and fired a few more rounds. The two immediately proceeded to get into a shootout, running a circle around each other as Ruby regained her balance and looked up, seeing a figure in the distance. Curious, she watched as the figure smirked, then fired up a motorcycle and began driving it toward her.

Sierra froze time and positioned herself to deflect another punch, narrowly doing so as compressed air blasted into her face. Wincing, she jumped backwards, only to get tackled into several trees as the man then threw her to the ground, her body skidding against the ground as the man laughed and said, "Well, you have good reflexes. But they aren't good enough."

Sierra growled and pressed her arms against a tree, getting back to her feet as the man asked, "Where's the silver eyes?"

Just then, Ruby jumped, narrowly avoiding the motorcycle. She watched in near slow motion as the rider immediately jumped off after her, drawing a sword. Raising Crescent Rose, she engaged the new figure, a man younger than the other two. Gritting her teeth, she fired a round from her sniper in an attempt to gain some distance, but then found herself on the defensive as she turned around and saw the man fly toward her, slashing at lightning fast speed. Narrowly raising her weapon in time, Ruby felt a heavy blow, breaking her guard as the man went for another strike, to which Ruby barely had time to react to. Spinning her body, she deflected the slash, then spun her scythe around her body and went for a slash, only for the man to jump over it. He then slashed downward, to which Ruby raised her scythe, blocking the attack as a crater appeared beneath them.

"As beautiful as they are," the man stated, "They hold nothing but a threat to our mother."

"What…!?"

Ruby, confused, immediately threw the man off and jumped out of the crater, firing a few rounds at the man. Her bullets were easily deflected as the man jumped backwards, catching her by surprise as he snapped his fingers. Furrowing her brow in confusion, she watched as the man began walking backwards. Then something felt off. Like there was something breathing down her back. Something with a killer intent.

Slowly turning around, Ruby suddenly saw the gaping maws of three Creeps that had jumped at her. Reflexively, she fired a round into the ground, only to find herself in an unavoidable situation as the man appeared above her and slashed downward, causing her to gawk in pain as she was slammed into the ground with unbelievable force.

"Ruby!"

Lima turned away from her opponent for a moment, then turned back and saw a barrel in front of her face as the woman said, "Don't look away from me!"

Lima dodged right as the gun fired, then grabbed the woman's arm and locked it in place, holding it against her back as she turned and pointed her rifle to her opponent. However, her opponent simply grabbed the barrel and pointed it upwards as Lima fired, then flicked her wrist, tossing her revolver back to her free hand and firing at the faunus, who immediately reeled away in pain as her aura zapped around her shoulder. Gripping the area she had just been tagged, Lima growled, her ears perked upwards angrily as the woman chuckled and said, "my my, feisty little faunus aren't you? It'll be a shame…."

Suddenly, the sound of hollow air filled Lima's ears as the woman continued, "If you lost them."

Ruby glanced up from her little crater, clutching her side as she yelled, "LIMA!"

Sierra, through her jumps between the trees, saw her ex-teammate in a dire situation, unable to help as the man she was engaged with stayed hot on her tail.

The woman smirked, then made to pull the trigger.

Lima, too shocked to comprehend the situation, stared on as a loud bang filled the air.

Ruby and her opponent stared at the wolf and the gunwoman. Sierra ran out from the forest and stared in horror at the scene she was sure to see. Lima stayed frozen in place, flicking her ears in shock at what she had just witnessed. Sierra's expression immediately changed from a look of horror to a look of disbelief as Scarlet crawled out of the hole she had just made, her legs knee down encased in red.

Just before the woman shot a round, a motorcycle flew in and blasted her away, causing her to shoot into thin air as Scarlet stated, "Okay…you've officially pissed me off."

* * *

 **Omg I think I could've made this chapter so much better. Oh well; too late now. I'll catch y'all next week!**


	11. Blood for Blood

**Well...welcome back, me. And hello to everyone that's reading! Anyway, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is kicking my ass on top of school, so I should probably be getting back to playing the damn game...or studying...eww... Anyway, thanks as usual, hope y'all enjoy, and I'll talk to you guys later!**

* * *

Scarlet's aura sparked a crimson red around her legs as the man standing over Ruby turned to face the other red-head, gaining interest. Scarlet returned the gaze, turning her body to him as he raised a hand, ready to snap his fingers. However, before he could, Scarlet's foot kicked his hand away, then landed on his chest, causing him to gawk as she kicked him into the forest. The sound of trees snapping filled the air as Scarlet looked down at Ruby, reaching a hand to her. Ruby gladly took the hand, still holding her side as Scarlet turned to Sierra, the latter shivering slightly as the older sibling began walking toward her.

Just then, the muscular man that Sierra had been fighting appeared, his hand reeled back and ready to strike. Sierra turned around, her eyes turning red as she froze time, then jumped away, tapping on Scarlet, who's time was immediately resumed as they swapped places. Time resumed again as Scarlet went in for a spin kick, meeting the man's bracer. A loud "BANG" filled the air, bringing Lima back to her senses as she flicked her ears, then turned to see the muscular man holding his hand in pain with Scarlet standing before him.

The man groaned in pain as Scarlet then turned her attention to the woman under the motorcycle. The man attempted to swing with his uninjured hand, only to take a superkick and get sent flying like the first, younger man as Scarlet began making her way over to the motorcycle. She stood there for several moments before she decided to kick the vehicle off the woman, moving her head to the left as a bullet cut off a strand of red hair. The woman that was beneath the vehicle then began laughing as she fired again, only to get the gun kicked out of her hand as Scarlet then kicked her into the air, jumping up after her. She then began doing a succession of kicks, sending the woman even higher before axe kicking her back down to Remnant. She then began to freefall, closing her eyes before opening them, kicking away at the air to gain more momentum as the woman landed on the ground, her eyes open wide as Scarlet quickly closed the distance, an explosion filling the air as aura zapped everywhere.

The three other girls braced themselves as a rush of air flew past them, then looked back to see Scarlet standing in an empty hole, the woman gritting her teeth in frustration before she turned around, seeing the three members all standing next to each other. The woman wiped a stray trail of blood from her mouth and smirked. The brawler waved his hand and grinned. The swordsman simply gave a cocky smirk, snapping his fingers before they all hopped on their motorcycles and drove off.

Scarlet growled as Grimm began appearing all around them. Sierra unsheathed her wrist blades, as did Lima and Ruby with their weapons. The Grimm all let out howls, roars, and whatever sounds they made as they began charging.

However, in the blink of an eye, all that was left was just dissipating Grimm bodies, seemingly struck down where they were in midair.

Confused, Sierra looked around, then saw Scarlet standing over slightly squatted, the dust at her feet settling. She blinked, then began making her way over as the woman opened her eyes, still aggravated. Lima and Ruby did the same, putting their weapons away as Scarlet stared after the trail of dust that the motorcycles had left.

"I forgot that your semblance lets you do that," Sierra stated, putting a hand on Scarlet's shoulder. The older sibling glanced at the silverette, then averted her gaze. Sierra kept her eyes on the red-head, then gasped as Scarlet collapsed, hissing in pain. Ruby and Lima immediately were on her, concerned as Scarlet clawed at the dirt ground, seemingly in unbearable pain as the crimson coating on her legs slowly began to disappear.

"Gh…khhh…!"

Scarlet screamed between her teeth, her eyes shut tightly as the crimson on her legs finally receded completely, leaving the red head gasping in pain. Her death grip on the ground slowly eased up as Lima glanced at her legs, unsure of what had just happened. Sierra furrowed her brow, concerned as Scarlet slowly got onto her knees, still gasping as she said, "I'm…alright…!"

"Are you really!? What happened!?"

"Her semblance," Sierra answered, catching the other two by surprise as she continued, "Blood for Blood. When she uses it, her abilities increase to an extraordinary level."

"But…," Scarlet gasped, "This is…it's price…!"

"Blood for Blood," Lima repeated as Sierra finished, "It's essentially the exact opposite of Yang's semblance. For every blow, once her semblance is finished, she receives every ounce of the punishment she dished out."

Scarlet then let out another growl, hitting the ground in frustration as she raised her legs in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Lima experimentally to help lift it, only to get a light scream from the older red head, causing the faunus to let go. Lima's ears then drooped down as she backed away slightly, Ruby staying close to her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry about it," Sierra stated, staying close to her older sister. Scarlet let out another groan as she gripped the ground again, hissing as she attempted to stand. However, Sierra immediately denied her, moving her so that she was sitting. Scarlet, surprised, looked up as Sierra said, "Don't move. Wait for it to pass."

* * *

"What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck…"

 ***Beep beep beep***

"…"

 ***Beep beep beep***

"…"

 ***Beep beep beep***

"…"

 ***click***

"…"

"…Hey. I hope this gets to you."

"…"

"Lima and I just recently got finished with a job! I'm so out of shape, hehe!"

"…"

"And…umm…it turns out that Sierra's sister isn't that bad of a person, either!"

"…"

"But it was weird. We saw a town that was under attack, but it turned out that Sierra and them had it under control. The weird part was that, after that, we were attacked by a bunch of weird people."

"!?"

"Yeah. Something about my eyes…I don't know. I didn't like it. They seemed to be targeting me. It doesn't make any sense."

"…"

"I don't know. It was just-."

 ***click***

" **End of message."**

"…Dammit!"


	12. Grown Suspicions

**Oops, almost forgot to update this chapter. Not much to say at the moment...aside from mother nature not wanting winter to end for some reason. Well, enjoy this next chapter, and I'll talk to you guys later.**

* * *

"Feeling better?"

"The stinging's gone, at least," Scarlet answered, stretching her legs out. The truck that the group was in rumbled along slowly, Sierra leaning back on the bed railing as she let out a sigh as she relaxed. Lima proceeded to begin massaging Scarlet's legs, the woman emitting a mewl as the pressure slowly released.

"Mmm…you're good, wolfie," Scarlet mewled, leaning back and relaxing. Lima couldn't help but smile as she continued her massage session. Ruby, who had opted to take a nap, slept soundly as the sound of a Beacon airship flying over filled the air. Sierra glanced up and watched as said ship zoomed by, causing her to smile as she could swear she saw Sakura waving at them.

"So what do you think that was?"

Scarlet glanced back at Sierra, raising an eyebrow in surprise as the latter continued, "That group that attacked us. What do you think that was about?"

"Might be because of little red riding hood, over there," Scarlet replied, motioning to the sleeping Ruby. Sierra turned to the sleeping red head, then turned back to Scarlet, confused. Scarlet simply chuckled and leaned back as she continued, "Silver eyes are a rare trait, after all."

"What're you talking about?"

"Qrow would give you a better explanation," Scarlet said, yawning as Lima finally finished her massage. The woman then raised her legs and put them on the truck's bed railing, sighing as she relaxed and slowly dozed off. Sierra, still confused, looked at Lima, who crawled over Scarlet to sit by her former leader. Said faunus's ears wagged happily, causing Sierra to smile and pet her hair, Lima closing her eyes, enjoying the silverette's touch.

"Hey, Lima."

The wolf faunus opened her eyes, her ear wagging having stopped.

"Listen…," Sierra stated, "I…have a real big reason to believe that Delta's alive."

Lima's eyes widened, her ears wagging again.

"On one of my more recent missions, I overheard some…people talking about him," Sierra continued, "Or, at least I think they were. There wasn't anyone else I could've linked their descriptions to."

"At the village," Lima then stated, "the chief talked of a swordsman."

"Huh?"

"An amethyst-eyed swordsman," Lima continued, "A huntsman as well."

Both women kept their eyes on one another, then heard the driver shout something, prompting them to look at the front of the truck. Lima immediately went to the front of the bed, followed by Sierra as they looked at Vale, growing in the distance. They then turned to each other, smiling as Sierra said, "What do you say we all go on a trip?"

* * *

Hotel sighed, dropping his bag at the door. After a long day of yet another odd job, he plopped onto the couch, unaware of baby Flare crawling from the hall, noticing her father resting. She then crawled over to the man and stood up with help from the couch, reaching over and touching her dad's ear. Hotel groaned and turned his head, seeing his daughter looking at him with her usual baby's enthusiasm, before she dropped down onto her butt and crawled off back to the hall. He smiled, then felt something sit on his back, causing him to gawk a little as Yang said, "It's not nice to come back and not say anything, you know."

"Sorry," Hotel replied, closing his eyes as he continued, "shitty ass jobs are exhausting."

Yang chuckled to herself as she began pressing the palms of her hands against Hotel's back, causing the man to groan slightly as the pressure in his back slowly began to disappear.

"Sorry if I'm not as good as Lima."

"Nah, you're alright."

Hotel was right about to relax fully before a knock on the door caught both his and Yang's attention. Before he could get up, however, he heard Sierra's voice say, "Hey there, cutie!"

Flare let out a small sound, catching both parents off guard as Lima gingerly walked in through the still open front door, Sierra already inside and holding Flare.

The baby stared at the silverette, then gave a frightened look and turned to Yang, who immediately laughed and hopped off of Hotel, taking the child. Sierra rolled her eyes as she said, "And I thought you liked me already."

Lima then walked over and reached out to Flare, the child gladly going to the wolf as Yang said, "She's only seen you once, so it's only natural."

Hotel groaned and sat upright, covering his face with his hands, then rested his elbows on his knees as he said, "Welcome back."

Lima walked back to the couch opposite of him and sat down, Flare reaching up to grab her ears as Yang sat next to him, then Sierra next to Lima.

"So what's up? It's not often Lima comes with someone," Yang said, clearly surprised to see three out of the four former Team SHLD members all together. Sierra shrugged and leaned back into the couch's backrest, relaxing as Lima said, "Important discussion."

Sierra closed her eyes as Yang asked, "'Important discussion?'"

Lima nodded as Hotel sighed and leaned forward again, getting an idea of what they wanted to talk about.

Sierra opened her eyes slightly, keeping her gaze upward as she said, "I believe there's enough reason to believe that Delta's alive."

"Thought so," Hotel sighed, standing up to stretch as he asked, "When do we leave?"

"What?"

Sierra, caught off guard, looked up at Hotel, who was already moving to get ready. Yang stared on after him, then leaned her elbows onto her knees as Lima stared after him. Flare stared on after her father as well, slipping out of Lima's grasp and crawling after him as Yang stated, "…He's been really uptight since you first told him your suspicions."

Sierra turned back to Yang, who sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms behind her head as she turned to the hallway, watching Flare crawl into the main bedroom after the man as she continued, "He's been restless lately, even I haven't been able to calm him down."

"I can imagine so," Sierra replied, Lima nodding as the former continued, "He and Delta were essentially brothers before D went missing."

Hotel, meanwhile, packed a small satchel, then turned around to see Flare crawling toward him. Almost immediately, he felt his heart wrench out of place as his child crawled over and up onto his leg, staring at him with her big, Yang-like eyes. He couldn't help but furrow his brow, slowly reaching down to pick her up. Flare smiled, showing her gums, causing him to smile back as he pressed his forehead to hers, feeling her hands reach around his face.

"You don't have to come along, you know," Sierra stated, leaning on the doorframe.

Hotel looked up, seeing her and Yang, the latter standing in front of him as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't need to hear any words to know that Yang was very distraught as Sierra stated, "I know you want to come along, but right now, your family needs you."

Hotel looked at Sierra, then down to Yang, who held him tighter, Flare turning to face her mother as Lima poked her head from around the frame and nodded. Sierra nodded as well as Yang remained silent.

"Don't put Yang in Taiyang's situation," Sierra stated, "Your family is…the most important thing."

Sierra then kicked herself off the frame and finished, "Or at least that's what Delta would say."

Hotel blinked, then remembered a mission he had taken back in the day with Delta.

* * *

" _So what're you going to do after this?"_

 _Delta looked up at Hotel, taking note of the man's averted gaze, the train they were on rumbling along on its tracks._

 _Turning back to the window, Delta replied, "Hmm…not sure. Probably gonna try to spend time with Ruby."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Yep."_

" _You've been keeping yourself busy, haven't you?"_

" _Almost too busy," Delta sighed, leaning against the window frame. Hotel, curious, turned to his teammate as Delta continued, "It almost feels like I have no free time nowadays. Like, I don't even have time to spend on my own, let alone hang out with Ruby."_

" _Really now? Don't you think you should tone it down a bit?"_

" _Yeah…but I think proposing to her will fix things up between us," Delta replied, a little hopeful. Hotel simply rolled his eyes and smiled, then leaned onto the frame as well. The two then began small idle chat until Hotel brought up, "So do you consider us family?"_

" _Of course," Delta replied without hesitation, "Trust and loyalty is what makes family."_

 _Hotel raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Delta continued, "Even if the day comes that we aren't a team anymore, I'd still be loyal to you guys."_

" _So then, if you were asked to leave your family for a mission, would you do it?"_

" _Only if someone I love was in danger," Delta replied without hesitation._

" _And why would you do it only if you were forced to?"_

" _Hotel."_

 _The man turned his attention to Delta._

" _If you ever get kids, don't make your wife, or Yang for that matter, into a single parent."_

 _Hotel raised an eyebrow in confusion as Delta continued, "No wound is ever deeper than a broken heart. No matter how sharp the claws, swords, or whatever are."_

" _And you would know, how?"_

" _Obviously, my relationship with Ruby is wearing thin," Delta replied, giving a sad smile, "I'm…honestly not sure how much longer it'll last."_

* * *

Hotel blinked, coming back to reality at the touch of his daughter, having propped up into a standing position, using her father as support. He then turned to Yang, who was still looking at him. There was a moment of silence before Hotel looked up and asked, "…Are you sure?"

"Plenty," Sierra replied, shooting a thumbs up at him.

"…Alright then," Hotel sighed, then looked back down at Yang, who smiled back and said, "It's that or I'm going with you."

"Which isn't going to happen," Sierra replied sternly, "You two both have to raise Flare, now. So just relax. Lima and I have this down."


	13. The Search Begins

**Ugh...why does spring break have to come to an end? I feel like I got nothing done and now I've really come to a roadblock...hmm... Anyway, here's the update, hope y'all enjoy, and I'll catch you guys later!**

* * *

"Okay…what the fuck…."

Sierra put a finger on her chin, contemplating her and Lima's next course of action. Several days had passed since she and Lima had left the kingdom. After hitting as many leads as they could from the village that Ruby and Lima had helped, the two were stumped. There were no leads on the whereabouts of Delta, or, at the very least, the person they believed to be him.

"I'm stumped, Lima," Sierra sighed, shrugging as they slowly approached the next village. The wolf faunus' ears slumped as a merchant rumbled past them, followed by what appeared to be a small caravan. Sierra politely said "hello" to the travelers, who all bowed back, then went on their merry way as Lima looked up, her ears perking as they quickly came upon the village gates.

"Well, might as well get what we can here," Sierra stated, scratching the back of her head. Lima nodded, then walked through and looked around, seeing the settlement bustling with life. A local merchant ran past their faces, followed by the usual flow of people as they slowly made their way toward what appeared to be a market place of sorts. They observed people trading amongst each other, as well as the occasional huntsman/huntress and mercenary talk.

"Hmm…Lima, any idea where we should even start?"

Sierra turned back to face her teammate, only to be answered with said teammate not standing where she was supposed to be. Sierra blinked, then looked around, trying to spot wolf ears amongst the couple crowds. Raising an eyebrow, she looked from crowd to crowd, scratching the back of her head in confusion.

"Wolfie, where'd you go?"

Sierra then began walking from stall to stall, trying to spot the faunus, looking between crowds of people, before finally spotting Lima at a weapons dealer. Blinking, Sierra approached her teammate, who turned back and motioned toward the vendor. Sierra nodded, then approached and glanced at the weapons, taking note of the unique designs as the vendor said, "Weapons are at a discounted rate today, so feel free to buy anything!"

"Sure," Sierra replied, then looked up at the man and asked, "By the way, could you possibly help us? We're trying to find someone and my colleague here says that you might be of help."

"Trying to find someone? Well, I'm not sure if I can do that, but fire away, the man replied, to which Sierra asked, "Would you have possibly seen a huntsman? A little taller than me, amethyst colored eyes and same colored highlights in his hair? He should be a swordsman as well."

"A swordsman?"

The vendor then put pinched his chin, then turned around and grabbed a piece of paper and slapped it onto the counter as he said, "Now, I do believe there was a huntsman who fits the build that ordered this. Custom built, and boy, was it a tough one to make. Though the kid paid his share."

Sierra stared at the blueprint, analyzing the weapon, as well as the design of each different component and sword.

"…Why would he make a sword with no sheath…?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just talking to myself," Sierra replied, then continued, "Would you happen to know where he might've gone?"

"He didn't say where he went, but I told him to let me know how the thing is working in case it needs any maintenance, so chances are, he might be back…or not," the vendor replied, shrugging. Sierra sighed, then turned back to Lima, who nodded, then turned back to the vendor and said, "Well, I guess we'll be sticking around for a bit, so could you give us a heads up whenever he comes around?"

"Sure thing," the vendor replied, "By the way…those gauntlets of yours…."

"Huh?"

Sierra looked at her gauntlets, then looked back at the vendor, who said, "Call me crazy, but are those from Atlesian?"

Sierra blinked, then cocked her head to the side and reluctantly said, "Yes…?"

The vendor then smiled and continued, "Can I see the blades?"

Sierra, surprised, did as she was told, flicking her wrist. The hidden blade shot out from the gauntlet, causing Lima to jump in surprise as the man's smile widened. He then chuckled, then got back to a standing position and said, "Glad to know that those are going to good use."

"Umm…what…?"

"I made those," the man replied, "About two years ago, when I was in Atlas. I was just a traveling blacksmith at the time, going from town to town with a caravan that I kept all of my tools in. I then ended up in Atlas, where a patrol took my goods away, the bloody lot of them."

"Oh," Sierra replied, "I'm sorry…."

"Oh no, don't be," the vendor stated, "Those wrist blades were just one of few things that they confiscated from me. But I'm just glad to see that they're in a good place."

"Umm…do you want them back? It'd be wrong of me to keep them, then," Sierra said, beginning to reach for the buckles. However, the vendor shook his head and stuck his hand out to her, stopping her. Sierra lowered her hands and flicked the blades back into their holders as the vendor then said, "It wouldn't be right for me to take away something that you've had for the better part of lord knows how long you've had them."

"Oh…umm…thank you…then…?"

Sierra looked at her feet, unsure of how to take it.

Lima's ears flickered as she watched the conversation, then turned around, looking at the crowd. Scanning the crowd, she jumped from huntsman to huntsman, mercenary to mercenary, civilian to civilian, picking out each individual faunus, then heard someone ask, "Having fun?"

Immediately, she turned around to look at Sierra, only to see that her leader had her hands full with the vendor. Blinking in confusion, she looked around again, then heard the voice laugh, almost as if it had just been reunited with someone they hadn't seen for a while. Lima then closed her eyes, focusing her hearing. The peoples' voices amplified in her ears, to which she simply canceled out all unnecessary noises and tried to focus on the one voice. The voice chuckled again as she quickly located it, then looked straight ahead, seeing the handle of a sword quickly get lost in the crowd of people. Blinking, Lima kept her eyes on the general area, then felt something touch her shoulder as Sierra asked, "Something wrong?"

Lima stayed expressionless, then shook her head as she shook the thought out of her mind.

"I thought I heard a voice," Lima stated as Sierra began leading her to a tavern.

That night, Sierra found herself unable to sleep. Lima had long since fallen asleep as the silverette looked out the window, staring at the now rising moon. She watched it rise, reminiscing about the old Team SHLD, her time with Echo, spending time with old friends, etcetera.

Sierra found herself smiling, only for the smile to disappear as her scroll began ringing. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled it out and opened it, seeing that the caller was Echo. Blinking, she smiled and answered, bringing the scroll up to her ear as she said, "Sierra here."

"Evening, babe," Echo stated, sounding like he had just gotten home. Sierra leaned against the window frame sighing as she kept her eyes out at the moon, watching it slowly rise as Echo asked her questions, to which she had answers for. However, she was immediately caught off guard as he said, "When you get back, should we start a family?"

There was a moment of silence as Sierra slowly processed the information. Echo remained silent on his end as well, seemingly expecting an answer. Just as Sierra was about to answer, however, Echo stated in a flustered manner, "Oh shit! Did I say that out loud?"

"Umm…well…yeah," Sierra replied, unsure of how to answer him.

"W-well, don't worry about it, okay?"

"R…right," Sierra replied, then lowered her face, feeling it heat up as she began thinking about having a family with her fiancé.

An awkward silence ensued before Echo said, "Stay safe, alright?"

"I'll try to be," Sierra replied, smiling as she raised her head again.

"Love you, Si."

"Love you too, E."

Sierra hung up after hearing Echo's connection die off, closing her scroll as she sighed. She then sat on the window sill, keeping her gaze outside, then turned it to Lima, who was sleeping soundly while curled up in a ball. With a smile, Sierra glanced back outside, watching as the moon made it halfway up the horizon before she dozed off to sleep.


	14. Irrelevant Questions and Answers

**Hiya, guys! Honestly, I almost forgot to update the story, so here's the next chapter. Hope y'all enjoy, and I'll talk to you guys later!**

* * *

"Yeah, it's actually better than I thought it'd be."

"Really now? Good to know that it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

"Nah, you did a great job with it."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"By the way…."

"Hmm?"

"There's two women looking around for you."

"…?"

"Wanted to know if you had come by, apparently."

"…Oh, right. I know who you're talking about."

* * *

Ruby woke up, hearing birds chirping outside. Blinking, she slowly got out of bed and went through her usual morning routine; bathroom, shower, eat, back to the bathroom, then get on with what she needed to do that day. However, a knock on the door interrupted her routine just as she finished getting properly dressed.

Going to the door, she opened it, seeing her uncle, Qrow.

"Whaddup, kiddo?"

"Uncle Qrow! Oh, it's so good to see you! Come in!"

Qrow chuckled as he entered the house, looking around and sensing familiarity. He glanced around at the couple boxes still lying around assumingly holding Delta's belongings as Ruby ran to prepare some tea. However, she was interrupted when Qrow said, "It's all good, kid, I don't need any."

"Huh? But-."

"I'm fine. Really. But there is something we need to discuss."

"Umm…okay…?"

Ruby slowly went to the living room and plopped onto the couch. Qrow sighed and followed, sitting on the one opposite of his niece. Ruby fidgeted nervously as Qrow took a swig of his flask, then said, "So, I heard that you were attacked the other day."

"What? How did you-?"

"How many people attacked you?"

"Huh?"

"It's just a question. How many attacked you?"

"Three."

"Three, huh…interesting…," Qrow said to himself, then took another swig before he looked at Ruby again and said, "So I assume they said something about your eyes, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah…."

"Hmm," Qrow took another swig, then asked, "Do you remember what Ozpin said to you when you first met him?"

* * *

Sierra dropped down from a tree, stabbing her hidden blade into the skull of a Boarbatusk, receiving a squeal from the Grimm as it thrashed around. Gritting her teeth, Sierra then unsheathed her second hidden blade, getting the Grimm into a headlock before she stabbed its throat. The Grimm continued to struggle, coughing up blood as a gunshot filled the air, dropping it immediately as Sierra sighed, pulling her blades out and sheathing them as Lima hopped out of her own tree, her rifle in hand. Sierra raised a fist, receiving a fist bump from the faunus as the latter then asked, "Is it just me? Or are these things getting harder and harder to kill?"

Lima shook her head and turned her rifle back into its original axe mode, slipping it into the axe holster on her hip.

"Makes me worry, really," Sierra stated, disgusted at the Grimm slime on her hands. Lima's ears perked in curiosity at her leader's statement, watching as the silverette waved her hands, trying to get the slime off. Cocking her head to the side, she remained focused on the silverette, who caught her gaze and asked, "What? Something on my face?"

Lima shook her head again, then asked, "Why worried?"

Sierra blinked, then laughed to herself as she said, "You're right. This is Delta we're talking about, after all. He's fine…I hope."

Sierra's smile then turned into a frown as she imagined the site of Delta's disappearance, Ironwood's vivid description of how the scene played out.

Just then, a hand touching her shoulder brought her back down to Remnant as Lima smiled at her, her ears wagging as she said, "He's alive. I know he is."

That evening, Sierra counted the amount of lien that they had made for the small job as Lima sewed together a sliced open portion of Sierra's sweater. The faunus couldn't help but smile, carefully stitching the hole together as Sierra sighed and leaned back into the chair at the desk, resting her head in her hands as she stared up at the ceiling. The sound of shops beginning to close up lightly filled the room as Sierra then turned to the window and said, "…Hey, Lima."

"Yes?"

"Is Hotel…happy?"

"?"

Lima glanced up at her leader.

"I mean," Sierra clarified, "With Yang and Flare. Is he…happy with his life right now?"

Lima then turned back to her task and replied, "Not sure."

Sierra blinked, her mind trailing to Echo, stuck on the question he had presented the night before.

"…baby fever?"

Sierra flinched, gasping as Lima lightly giggled, covering her mouth as she smiled. Sierra turned back to the faunus, a blush on her face as she said, "Wh-what the hell!? Lima!"

"It's baby fever, isn't it?"

Sierra opened her mouth, but then sighed and leaned back into the chair, replying, "Well…maybe a little."

"Fufufu…baby Sierra," Lima giggled to herself, imagining a tiny Sierra crawling all over. Sierra snorted, then leaned back further into the chair and raised a hand to the ceiling. The image of a child with dark violet hair with silver highlights filled her mind as she then said, "…baby fever, huh…."

Lima smiled, finishing her sewing job. She then stood up and put it onto the backrest of Sierra's chair, then walked back to her bed, sitting on the end. Sierra slowly turned her head to face the faunus, lowering her hand to point it at Lima as she asked, "Am I really fit to be a mom?"

"You never know," Lima replied, grabbing her axe and changing it into rifle mode. Sierra lowered her hand, keeping her eyes on the faunus as the latter began cleaning off her weapon. Sierra's thoughts immediately began wandering to back when they were at Beacon, how Lima complimented Delta so well, being his senses as she covered him from afar, as well as vice versa, when she was sniping and he'd zip in out of nowhere to save her any pain.

"…You've had that thing since we were at Beacon," Sierra stated, "What ever happened to that bow that your parents got you?"

"Didn't like it," Lima answered, "sold it."

"Sold it?"

Sierra blinked, soaking the information in, then began laughing as she said, "Wow. Classic."

Lima then shrugged, then looked outside, seeing a couple lights from the nearby houses begin to turn on as the moon slowly began making its way up the horizon. She blinked, then pulled out her scroll, going into her contacts as she swiped a name across her screen, putting it up to her ear.

"Yo, what's up?"

"I just…wanted to hear your voice."

A light chuckle filled her ear.

"I miss you, Lima."

"And I to you, Wind."

* * *

 ***beep***

"Hi! So, uncle Qrow told me the weirdest thing today. Something about my eyes being special. He also said that's probably why I was attacked, which still doesn't make any sense. He still told me to be careful, and to go out with someone in case I get attacked again."

"I still can't believe those two, Sierra and Lima! They went off to look for you without telling me! Of course, I only know because Yang told me about it, but Hotel seemed really depressed when I went over to visit. Flare's still doing alright. I do hope she likes her uncle, hehe!"

"I'm still waiting for you. Please come back."

 ***beep***

" **End of message."**

The young man pulled the scroll away from his ear, closing it and slipping it into his pocket. The moonlight glinted off of his sword's handle as Grimm began gathering around him. Looking around, he slowly reached up for his sword's handle as the first Grimm jumped at him. With a sidestep, he drew his sword, slashing downward at the Grimm, now hunched over where he was just standing, cutting it clean in half. Grimm blood sprayed onto him as he slashed his weapon clean, then turned, his amethyst eyes eyeing down his enemies as another swordsman appeared from the group, now snarling and barking in excitement.

The new swordsman chuckled and drew his sword, pointing it at the other as he said, "I've finally found you."


	15. The Backstory

**Again, not much to say. Hope you guys enjoy the little backstory, and I'll talk to you guys later!**

* * *

" _Hi Sierra!"_

"… _hey Ruby."_

 _Ruby stepped aside, welcoming the silverette into her house. Lima was close behind, followed by Hotel, then Scarlet as all four went to make themselves comfortable in Delta's apartment. Ruby, surprised, closed the door, then went to make some tea, the silence making her uneasy._

 _Several minutes later, the silence was broken by loud whispers as Ruby grabbed a tray with cups, pouring the tea into them. She then picked the tray up and made her way toward the living room, seeing the three members of Team SHLD huddled up, with Scarlet watching over them. On whim, Ruby walked over to Scarlet first, who took her cup, then went over to the three and said, "Umm…tea?"_

 _Sierra and Lima flinched, the latter's ears perking upwards sharply as Hotel sighed and leaned back, taking a cup. The two women reluctantly took a cup as well as Ruby took the last and set the tray on an end table, blowing the steam coming out of the cup._

 _There was an uneasy silence once again, causing Ruby's gut to wrench itself lightly. She squirmed lightly where she was seated, to which Scarlet took notice and looked at Sierra, who was trying not to pay attention. Scarlet then cleared her throat, catching the gaze of the silverette as she motioned her head to Ruby. Sierra's gaze slowly went over to Ruby, who was still squirming lightly._

 _Sierra slowly looked at Lima and Hotel, who kept their gazes averted. It didn't show, but it was all too evident that Lima was on the verge of tears, as well as Hotel just barely keeping himself from doing something rash._

" _Should I tell her, or do you want to?"_

 _Sierra then turned back to Scarlet, who was looking at her with a serious look. She then turned to Ruby, who immediately felt something wrong as her hands shook, the tea in her cup vibrating. Sierra could feel her heart wrench itself as she shakily said, "…Ruby."_

 _Ruby remained silent as Sierra continued._

" _Delta…Delta…is…."_

"… _no…."_

" _Delta…has been…."_

" _Delta Ordance is M.I.A."_

 _Sierra flinched, then looked at Scarlet, her brow furrowed as the woman said, "he went missing after not responding to his scroll after an extended amount of time. Nobody knows if he's alive or dead."_

 _There was another moment of silence._

 _The sound of a cup breaking filled the room._

 _Ruby slowly laughed to herself, the pain and anguish obvious on her face as she looked at Sierra and said, "Ha…haha...this…this is a joke…right?"_

 _The four remained silent as Ruby continued, "You…you're lying…this is a prank…right? Del's gonna come running through the door and surprise me…right?"_

 _Sierra fought back her tears, her gut wrenching at Ruby's pathetic state. A tear streaked down Lima's cheek as Hotel clenched a fist, clearly holding back from destroying something right then and there. Scarlet shook her head, no longer able to maintain her composure as she said, "No. I'm not joking. Delta Ordance is missing in action."_

 _The sound of a heart breaking could be heard as Ruby sniffled then looked at the door, seemingly waiting for a surprise appearance. Sierra grit her teeth, unable to hold back the tears as she growled through her teeth, clenching her fist as Hotel stood up and punched the wall, the force rocking the room. Lima flinched at the noise, then covered her ears as she began sobbing._

" _No…."_

 _All four turned to Ruby, who slowly began making her way to the door._

" _No…."_

 _The sound of thunder rocked the apartment next as Sierra stood up and went after Ruby._

" _Ruby…."_

" _You're lying…."_

" _Ruby…."_

" _You're lying…not…Del…."_

" _Ruby…."_

" _Delta's not dead. He can't be dead. He promised me he'd come back!"_

" _Ruby…."_

" _He's coming back! He's not dead-!"_

" _Ruby!"_

 _Ruby was then roughly turned around and pulled into a hug, Sierra's face digging into the crook of her neck. Ruby blinked, tears beginning to streak down her cheek as Sierra said, "I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!"_

" _Del…," Ruby moaned, slowly returning the hug, before holding Sierra in a bear hug as she screamed and dropped to a heaping mess._

* * *

Sierra slowly opened her eyes, the morning sun filling the room as she came to. The soft chirping of birds from outside filled the room as she slowly sat up, Lima still sleeping soundly in the bed next to hers. Sierra smiled, then stood up and stretched, moaning a little before she sighed, then walked over to the desk, tracing the surface next to her blade gauntlets.

"…it really has been two years, hasn't it?"

"Two-and-a-half."

Sierra turned around, watching as Lima sat up and rubbed her eyes, her ears drooped over lazily. Sierra blinked, then smiled as she said, "Morning, wolfie."

Lima nodded, then stood up out of her bed and walked over to the bathroom, getting herself ready for the day. Sierra smiled after her, then sighed and looked out the window, seeing the villagers just beginning to get ready for what was surely going to be a long day.

"Hey, Lima."

Lima's head poked from around the door frame, a toothbrush in her mouth as Sierra asked, "Did the chief need us to do anything today?"

Lima shook her head, then disappeared behind the frame, finishing her morning routines. Sierra chuckled, stretching as Lima came back out, brushing her hair. Sierra immediately took her turn at the bathroom, to which Lima wandered out of the room and down to the lobby.

* * *

Sierra glanced around, keeping an eye on any suspicious looking characters as Lima, who's eyes were closed, perked her ear to and fro, trying to catch onto any interesting conversations. Slurping her juice, Lima opened her eyes and leaned back, crossing her arms behind her head as Sierra looked at her, curious as Lima shook her head. Sierra then sighed, propping her arm onto the table as she rested her head on her hand.

"Hello, pretty lady!"

Sierra turned to face the man who had just approached her and Lima.

"Why don't I buy you a drink?"

"At this morning hour? Please, I'm better than that," Sierra replied, closing her eyes as she looked away. The man, obviously drunk, then turned to Lima, who turned away as well as the man leaned onto the table and said, "C'mon, baby. You know you want me."

"Can you leave us alone? We're busy," Sierra stated, slowly growing annoyed. Lima's ears perked up in aggression, a glare from the faunus meeting the man as he leaned over toward her, the alchohol rolling off his breath as reached toward her and said, "I can treat you to a good ti-."

Suddenly, Sierra reached out and grabbed the man's arm, flipping him off the table and onto the floor. With a gawk, he crashed into the wooden planks, catching many commoners off guard as Sierra half-yelled, "I told you to get lost!"

"Sierra."

The silverette turned around to see Lima, who was still slurping her orange juice. Sierra rolled her eyes, then took her seat again as people gathered around the man, who angrily sat up and screamed, "You damn bitch!"

"Fuck you, too," Sierra said under her breath, standing back up as the man grabbed a wine bottle and smashed it against a table, effectively breaking it. Rolling her eyes again, Sierra glanced at the barkeeper, obviously tired and annoyed as he waved his hand to let her go. Smirking, Sierra turned back to the man, who lunged forward and stabbed the broken bottle toward her.

Ducking under it, Sierra followed up with an open palm uppercut. She then proceeded with three punches to his gut, causing him to reel backwards. Casually walking up to him, Sierra then sidestepped and raised her leg into a super kick, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

Narrowing her eyes, Sierra lowered her leg and looked around, the man's apparent cohorts all drawing weapons of some sort, causing her to sigh as she shook her head and shrugged.

"Oh, what the hell," Sierra breathed out as they all charged her.

Raising her hand, Sierra snapped her fingers, freezing time. Her surroundings turned grey as she casually walked under the charging crew, taking a seat and crossing her legs next to Lima as she unfroze time, all the men crashing into each other. The wolf jumped in surprise as Sierra smirked and leaned onto the table, watching as the men all struggled against each other as she said, "I should've done that from the start."

Lima blinked, then giggled to herself as a waitress walked up to them, holding her tray over her mouth as she stared at the struggling pile of bodies. She then turned to Sierra and Lima, to which the former said, "I'll pay for any damages."

"Don't bother," the bartender replied, sighing in exhausted annoyance as he scratched the back of his head, "Those guys cause trouble enough as is."

A groan came from the hole in the wall, to which the bartender then yelled, "OKAY, FIGHT'S OVER! GET LOST ALREADY!"

Lima giggled, looking at the two planks across the hole in an X as Sierra asked the waitress a couple questions.

"Yes, actually I do remember a huntsman that looked like that."

"You do!?"

Lima's attention was immediately diverted as the waitress put a finger on her chin and said, "Yes. He stayed here for a couple days. He was quite handsome, really."

The waitress put a hand to her cheek and blushed as she continued, "Such a gentleman. And at such a young age, as well."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Did he say where he was going?"

"Hmm…no. Just left some lien in his room and disappeared. Though I do see him from time to time."

"Where?"

"Wandering around in the market."

Immediately, Sierra turned to Lima, who's ears were perked upwards in excitement.

"He always goes around one weapon's vendor in particular. Quite strange if you ask me."

"Which vendor is it?"

* * *

"Welcome!"

The two young women entered a small store as the weapons vendor from the other day turned around, blinked, then said, "Welcome back!"

"Hello again," Sierra replied, Lima nodding in reciprocation. The vendor turned back around as Sierra looked around the store, seeing uniquely designed weapons, albeit simple, inside of glass cases as if they were museum exhibits. Lima looked around as well, letting out a "bleh" sound as she spotted her old bow that her parents had bought her so long ago, catching the vendor by surprise as he turned back around and asked, "How can I help this time?"

"Someone said that the guy we're looking for comes here often. Is that true?"

The vendor blinked, then thought about his answer. Sierra immediately sensed a lie coming their way as Lima turned to look at him, seeing him deep in thought. After a minute, the vendor opened his eyes and said, "I wouldn't say he comes here regularly, but often enough."

"Is there a reason why you couldn't tell us earlier?"

The vendor thought to himself for a moment, then smiled as he said, "Because it was a request."

"A request?"

"Yes. A request."

Sierra blinked, then turned to Lima, who looked back at her. They both exchanged silent words as the man said, "Said that he knew you two were coming as well. Do you two know him?"

Sierra looked at the vendor as Lima leaned against one of the cases. Sierra thought about her answer, lowering her gaze as the man began sensing that the must've been close to the swordsman. After a minute of her own, Sierra looked at the man and stated, "…That swordsman…we have reason to believe he was announced M.I.A. two and a half years ago."


	16. Tracking

**Second straight week in a row that I almost forgot to update, haha! Anyway, I'll apologize ahead of time if I don't update cuz I've been having insane writer's block. Anyway, thanks for clicking, hope you guys enjoy, and I'll talk to you guys later!**

* * *

Sierra sighed, sitting down at a spot just outside of the town. Lima sat down next to her, resting her head on her leader's shoulder as the sun slowly began making its way down from the sky. After yet another unproductive day, they were nowhere close to finding Delta. Or whatever became of him.

"You think that vendor will keep his word?"

Lima slowly opened her eyes.

"You think he'll let us know when that swordsman…when Delta will stop in again?"

Lima opened her mouth to answer, but then caught onto a scent. Opening her eyes, she stood up, looking around. Her ears perked around excitedly, catching Sierra's attention as the wolf looked to and fro, trying to locate whatever the scent was. Sierra slowly stood up as well as Lima closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, locking onto her target as she suddenly took off down the road, to which Sierra gawked and took off after her.

Lima closed her eyes, a mental image of her surroundings appearing in her head as she followed the scent trail, screeching to a stop and getting off the main road. Opening her eyes, she jumped over a fallen tree, the scent thick with the rotting puddles of dead Grimm as she made a slight turn to the right, suddenly coming to an unnatural clearing. Looking around, the scent was all around; one familiar, one that was identical to the woman she fought some time ago.

Sierra, catching her breath, slowed down next to the faunus as Lima looked around, trying to locate a definitive source of the familiar scent. Sierra watched Lima look around, then walked over to a fresh stump. Looking at it, she immediately knew something was wrong in the fact that, unlike with a power or chain saw, this stump was made with a single, lightning fast slash.

"Lima, come over here."

The faunus turned to Sierra and gingerly walked over, observing the stump. Sierra knocked once on the stump, causing Lima to look it over carefully. Lowering herself onto a knee, she took a sniff, then looked down at a faint, yet noticeable footprint.

"A fight."

* * *

 _Two swordsmen clashed, Grimm watching all around as one took shelter behind a tree, only to narrowly jump in time as a sword ran through it, cutting it down._

* * *

Sierra watched as Lima turned her body, following the faint indentations.

"This one…was pushed over there."

* * *

 _The hiding swordsman laughed as he ran forward. The other gave chase, their weapons clashing yet again as the former was pushed backwards, his feet scraping against the ground._

* * *

Lima crawled along the ground, following the scrape marks, then looked to her right, seeing a black puddle.

"This one…got distracted.

* * *

 _The attacker grit his teeth, pushing his opponent back before he turned to his right, slashing a Creature of Grimm clean in half._

* * *

Lima then stood up and walked over to a tree, tracing a couple deep cuts.

"…He was…pushed back and attacked."

* * *

 _The swordsman jumped back against a tree, narrowly ducking out of the way of a slash as his opponent chuckled, their swords clashing again._

* * *

Lima glanced down on the ground, seeing more slash marks that led deep into the forest.

"…One gave chase."

* * *

 _The two ran into the forest, sparks still flying from their swords clashing as one stray slash deeply cut into a tree._

* * *

Lima traced a deep cut in a tree, then looked back at the path of destruction as she said, "They engaged."

* * *

 _The two slid to a stop, swords clashing as they glared each other down, going into a sequence of slashes and parries._

* * *

Lima kneeled down to the ground and picked up a pinch of dirt, bringing it to her nose.

"…One was driven off."

* * *

 _One swordsman disengaged, then re-engaged as the two went back into another parry-fest. Locking swords again, both swordsmen glared at each other again, one pushing the other back. The defending swordsman gritted his teeth, disengaging and turning around to gain some separation._

* * *

Lima continued following the trail, past the many black pools of dead Grimm. In her mind, she was imagining the battle go on, the scars on the trees telling a tale of constant engaging and disengaging. Sierra struggled to keep up as the faunus tracked the destruction all the way to where they began their search. Lima blinked, looking around at the ground, knowing all too well that she had lost the trail.

Panicking a little, Lima dropped down to her hands and knees, crawling around to find any other trace.

"Lima, what're you doing?"

Sierra walked up next to the faunus, watching her as she crawled all over the ground.

Lima, however, ignored her leader, sitting up with her legs splayed out as her ears flattened, saddened that she lost the trail. Sierra blinked, then sighed as she squatted down next to her, patting her head. There was a momentary silence between the two young women as Sierra glanced around, the road they were on leading back to town.

"…Let's go back, eh?"

* * *

 _As both swordsman chased each other, auras sparked as blows followed blows, sparks flying from each parry. Stopping again, they engaged in another parry fest, one swordsman's maniacal grin disgusting the other. The sound of metal clashing against metal was soon mixed in with the sound of motorcycle engines, catching one of the swordsmen off guard as bullets suddenly barraged him._

 _Disengaging, he began deflecting the bullets, another sword in his free hand as he spun around once, only to get hit in the gut by a gauntlet-covered fist. Flying backwards, the swordsman quickly regained his footing, only to see a woman on a motorcycle to his right holding a gun at him. He then glanced left, seeing a man with boxer glove-like gauntlets on his hands, prepared to nail another haymaker._

 _Instinctively, he put both swords on his back, merging them together as his shoes skidded along the ground. Ducking, a bullet flew over his head as he came to a stop, drawing his merged sword off his back into a powerful downward slash that met the man's gauntlet with a powerful "CLANG!"_

 _Immediately glancing to his right, the other swordsman drew his sword into a slash as well, albeit horizontally._

 _With amazing reflexes, he reached for his merged sword, detaching one of the segments and rotating his body, blocking the slash as the air swirled around them. Lowering his center of gravity, the defending swordsman slid the gauntlet down the length of his sword, maneuvering it to meet the other swordsman. The latter, however, sidestepped the parried attack and went in for an attack on the back._

 _The defender raised his sword to his back, blocking the attack as the motorcycle once again blew past them, bullets flying at them. With excellent precision, the marksman targeted her bullets to the defender, who immediately disengaged and jumped onto the boxer, then off him to the marksman's motorcycle, sending her off her vehicle._

 _Small sparks erupted from where the sword was engaged against a revolver as the woman grinned, clearly enjoying the physicality. The swordsman then glanced back to see the boxer's fist reeled up behind him, to which he threw a sword into the air just as the punch landed, causing an explosion._

 _The woman jumped back, smirking as the dust settled, revealing the boxer with his hand in the ground, clearly confused. The other swordsman, also confused, looked around, trying to find his enemy. The woman as well looked around, clearly surprised that the defender wasn't crushed under her colleague's fist._

 _With a glint of sun off a sword's blade, the other swordsman looked up just as the defending swordsman landed on the boxer again, but this time, stabbed downward, purple aura sparking violently as the defender struggled against it to pierce through. The boxer struggled, trying to throw the defender off as the woman began firing, her bullets just barely missing as the boxer moved to and fro. The attacking swordsman then appeared on the boxer's outstretched arm, the defender turning around and raising his second sword to parry the attack._

 _With the minor loss in concentration, the boxer then grabbed the defender's leg, catching him off guard as he was suddenly thrown back toward the forest, just managing to maneuver his body to soften his landing against a tree. Looking up to where he had been thrown, he spotted the attacking swordsman again, this time, slashing the tree that the defender was on. The latter immediately jumped off, landing just behind the attacker, raising sword to block yet another punch from the boxer, who grimaced. The defender then jumped over the boxer, charging the markswoman, deflecting bullets yet again as she began laughing hysterically, drawing another gun._

 _Gritting his teeth, the defender deflected bullet after bullet, getting ever closer before meeting his sword to her revolvers once more. However, he then dropped a third sword, kicking it behind her, suddenly disappearing. The woman then heard something scrap along the ground behind her, causing her to turn into a slash, sending her flying as the two swords slowly floated over the defender's left shoulder._

 _The attacking swordsman then laughed and walked forward, putting his sword on his shoulder as he said, "You're better than I thought!"_

 _The defending swordsman stayed quiet as the attacker raised his hand, the woman clutching her arm as she walked up to him and the boxer standing up next to him._

" _Now unfortunately, our mother is calling," the attacker stated, "But know that this is not the last you'll see of us."_

 _Just then, a black puddle appeared beneath them._

 _Grimm suddenly began appearing again like wildfire as the defender grit his teeth._

 _The attacker grinned, then said, "Now it'll be unfortunate if we kill the silver eyes first…."_

 _The defender's eyes suddenly widened, watching as the attackers slowly disappeared._

 _The defender then grit his teeth, then charged the trio, now head deep into the puddle. However, just as he swung, the three disappeared, the puddle vanishing with them as the swordsman immediately turned around, the Grimm now jumping at him. With a scream, the defender immediately engaged, now certain of what he had to do._


	17. A New Situation

**Sorry for the wait, guys! I've been waaaay too busy to even be thinking about writing this. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll catch you guys later!**

* * *

Sierra scoffed, waiting outside the vendor's store, her arms crossed in annoyance. Lima dozed off, sitting next to her as afternoon slowly turned into evening, traveling commuters just getting home and jumping from stall to stall. Glancing from left to right, the silverette waited patiently as the vendor sighed and opened the door, catching her attention as he said, "Doesn't look like he's coming tonight."

"You think your you know?"

"I know he's not coming tonight," the vendor sighed again, "Look; if you're so adamant on seeing this guy, come in the morning. That's when he's usually around."

"Morning, huh," Sierra said to herself, then sighed as she continued, "Still a morning person, eh D?"

Just then, her scroll began ringing.

Flinching a little, Sierra pulled it out from her pocket, then groaned as she answered.

"Sierra here."

"Sierra," Ironwood's voice stated, "Where have you been? You haven't reported for a while now."

"I'm sorry, I'm doing my own job right now," Sierra replied, about to hang up before he interrupted, "You can't just be going off on your own like that."

"I can do whatever the hell I want," Sierra replied, only to be replied with, "You're an agent of Atlas; you report to me-!"

"Don't mistaken me for one of your dogs, James!"

There was a moment of silence before Sierra kicked off the wall and said, "Don't you dare call me one of your agents! First and foremost, I'm a huntress! Not a soldier, a huntress! Call me one of your military dogs again and I'll go and kill you myself!"

With that, she hung up and turned her scroll off.

Lima glanced up, surprised as Sierra grumbled to herself, then sighed and turned to the vendor, who was just as surprised.

"Sorry about that," she sighed, crossing her arms again. The vendor simply stared at her, then sighed as well and went back into his store. Sierra scoffed, then looked at Lima, who was still looking at her curiously. Sierra raised an eyebrow as Lima stood up and patted herself of any dust, then moved her face right in front of Sierra's.

Sierra flinched in surprise, jumping backwards a little and hitting her head on the wall. Immediately, she lunged forward, accidentally headbutting Lima in return, the latter's head snapping backwards. Both young women hunched over, gripping their heads in pain, groaning a little before looking up at each other, laughing it off.

"I'm alright," Sierra said, patting Lima's head. The faunus didn't reply, instead, opting to wag her ears happily, causing Sierra to smile.

"Alright. Let's head back to the tavern."

* * *

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep be-***

 ***CLICK***

"Holy cow, look who decided to call."

"I could say the same to you."

"You need something or did you wanna quit yet?"

"How's Ruby?"

"The usual. She's gotten better, but it'd still be better if you just came back."

"Not possible right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Quit it with the questions. I just got attacked."

"And Ruby is safe. Relax, kid."

* * *

Sierra sat on the roof of the tallest building, the moon shining behind her ominously. Scanning the area below, she could hear the occasional roars of Grimm and wild animals in the distance, an ominous screech feeling the air. Glaring, she glanced up and noticed several trees shaking in the distance.

"Something wrong?"

Turning around, Sierra spotted Lima, the latter patting herself down after the climb. Sierra didn't answer, turning away from the faunus and back to the forest. The shaking continued for a couple minutes before diverting away in a different direction, to which she sighed and said, "There's an awful lot of Grimm action right now."

"I know," Lima replied, her ears twitching to and fro.

Sierra chuckled to herself, then turned back to the forest and said, "…You know? I kinda miss Vale already."

Lima grunted and walked up next to her leader, taking a seat.

"I mean, I've gone out on long missions before," Sierra continued, "but through all those insane assassination missions, I never really thought about missing home."

Lima blinked as Sierra leaned back onto her hands, looking up at the sky as she said, "…care to listen to one?"

* * *

" _Roger that," Sierra stated, putting her scroll away. Her hood pulled over her head, she looked around the corner to see a group of people walking toward her. Narrowing her eyes, she immediately identified her target, slipping back around the corner. Picking up a twig, she brought it to her mouth, simulating a smoking gesture as the group walked past, one of the members saying to keep their guards up._

 _Looking at the group, she immediately noticed that the group's rear was exposed._

 _It was too easy._

 _In the blink of an eye, she appeared behind her target, covering his mouth with one hand and gripping his throat with the other, her wrist blade exposed. A muffled scream caught the attention of the guards as the blade pierced into his neck, cutting his carotid artery and his throat as Sierra threw him aside. The target gripped his neck, flailing around while letting out a gasping sound, blood pouring from the wound as he quickly bled to death, his flailing slowing down before a final gasp signaled his death. Sierra narrowed her gaze at the fresh corpse, then glared up at the guards, all of whom had their weapons pointed at her as she spread her arms, a second blade shooting from her opposite wrist._

* * *

Lima blinked, comprehending the short story as Sierra sighed, leaning forward a little.

Both young women stayed quiet for a bit before Sierra continued, "Oh yeah, you can imagine that I've done even worse things than that."

"…Sier…ra…?"

Sierra's gaze slowly turned to the faunus.

"…why…?"

Her gaze turned away just as quickly.

"…maybe it was for revenge," Sierra replied, bringing her knees up into a hug. Lima scooted over and closed her eyes, nuzzling her cheek against the silverette's, a smile appearing on the latter's face as she said, "I guess…I was just so mad at the time…hearing that Delta had been taken from us."

Lima's eyes opened as she looked at the horizon, the moon now about half way up in the sky.

"…Sierra…."

"Yes?"

"Atlas…?"

"'Atlas?' What about Atlas?"

"Why did you go?"

"To Atlas?"

Lima nodded, causing Sierra to blink, then sigh and slump into her knees again.

"…I…I don't know…," Sierra said, looking back up, "I…I was desperate I guess? Ironwood essentially said that I could search for Delta if I decided to help them out. Lo-and-behold, all I got out of it was just a trail of blood and no leads. Now that I think about it, it feels like I've just been wasting my time."

Lima looked at her leader again and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, knowing better than to try and lecture her leader.

"… _hah…Sierra…."_

Lima's ears flinched, causing her to jump up to her feet and look around, the same voice that she had heard time and time again appearing once again. Sierra immediately took notice of the faunus's action, getting up to her feet as well as she asked, "What's up?"

"That voice…," Lima stated, her ears twitching to and fro, "I'm…I'm almost certain that…."

Sierra raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Lima finished, "I'm certain that…it's…."

A memory of when her former amethyst-eyed partner saving her from the pain of Grimm claws suddenly flashed through her mind, followed by the smile that she always loved to see from him.

"…Delta."

Suddenly, the screech of a Grimm pierced through the air.

The two huntresses flinched in surprise as the trees began shaking, birds scattering as the townsfolk who were still out and about seemingly froze in place.

Jumping off the roof, they both landed on the ground next to the town chief, who was as surprised as they were. Turning to face him, Sierra was about to ask him what was going on before the sight of an injured merchant running toward them caught their attention. The sound of Nevermores screeching filled the air as the merchant yelled, "Run away! That Grimm is-!"

Just then, a Beowolf ran him down, biting down on his neck, a sickening "SNAP" filling the air as townsfolk screamed and panicked.

Gritting her teeth, Sierra turned to Lima, nodding to her before unsheathing her wrist blades and running toward the Grimm. Lima immediately pulled out her axe in rifle mode, shooting the Grimm off the merchant as Sierra jumped, yelling as she gave an open-palmed uppercut, going up into the Grimm's skull before she flipped it over herself, delivering one last punch with her free hand.

Going back to back with her leader, Lima held her rifle in a ready position as Grimm began circling them. Cocking her gun, the empty shell popped out, vibrating as it made its way down toward the ground. Time seemingly slowed down as the snarls of Grimm filled the air, a stray explosion starting a fire as Sierra looked around, analyzing the situation. A beowolf let out a roar as all the Grimm jumped, pouncing on the girls as the bullet shell hit the ground.

"Go Lima."


	18. Hey Partner

**Final exams kicking my ass are gonna be my excuse, haha! Anyway, thanks for waiting, y'all. I've had some severe writers block and several other things IRL, so here's a bit of a treat for y'all. Thanks for being patient, and I'll talk to y'all later!**

* * *

"Go, Lima."

Sierra ducked as Lima brought her rifle over her shoulder, shooting the Grimm in front of Sierra. Using the recoil, she turned her gun back into its axe form, smoothly moving her arm over to grab it. In one fluid motion, she spun and threw her axe, hitting the Grimm in front of her. Sierra snapped her fingers, freezing time for a second, giving Lima enough time to run forward and deliver a dropkick to the Grimm, ripping her axe out of its skull as she turned it back into rifle mode, shooting the Grimm to her left, then whipped it to her right, shooting the one in the same direction. She then turned it back into an axe, spinning out of the way of a Beowolf's slash before she hacked the head off from behind, looking back up to see herself surrounded by knives.

Sierra snapped her fingers again, the knives flying away and killing the Grimm around Lima as she ducked under another Beowolf's swipe. Using a leg swipe, she knocked the Grimm off its feet, the ground shaking a little as Sierra immediately palmed the chest, a wrist blade exposed as she the dragged her arm up its chest, cutting it open. Grimm blood pooled around the fresh carcass as Sierra dodged Grimm strike after Grimm strike, jumping and stabbing each Grimm that lunged toward her.

* * *

"So what do you plan on doing now?"

* * *

Sierra ducked under another Grimm strike, gritting her teeth as she put a hand on the ground and kicked upwards, hitting the underside of its jaw. The Grimm reeled back, flexing its jaw, then turned its attention back to the silverette, only to see a knife fly at its face and lodge itself between its eyes. Sierra immediately jumped at the Grimm, kicking the knife through its skull, killing it instantly as she landed on top of it, then threw several more knives at the surrounding Grimm.

"Why're there so many!?"

* * *

"Isn't it obvious?"

* * *

Lima fired in quick succession at three Grimm, then turned and stuck the barrel of her rifle into the mouth of an oncoming Creep, swinging it to the ground before firing another three bullets to make sure it was dead. She then stood up and pointed it to her right, shooting the rest of her clip into an oncoming Beowolf, then turned the gun into its axe form, twirling it several times before running at a Boarbatusk, stopping it dead in its tracks with a single, powerful chop into its skull. Glancing backwards, she kicked the axe handle and lifted the still-stuck carcass into the air, dropping it on top of another Creep, then ripped it out of the dead Grimm, chopping off the head of the former.

* * *

"I don't know kid. You'll have to tell me."

* * *

Turning her axe back into rifle mode, she began firing at another group of Grimm that were chasing some townsfolk, picking off all but one. Cussing, she quickly turned it into axe form and spun, throwing it. The axe cleared the distance quickly, beheading the last Grimm. Sighing with relief, she immediately picked up a roar behind her, instincts telling her to duck. Doing so, she immediately did a spin kick at the Grimm's legs, throwing it off its legs as she then pulled out a knife from her boot and stabbed down on its neck.

* * *

"Qrow."

* * *

Sierra stabbed another Grimm, then heard an unfamiliar roar behind her. Turning around, she spotted a gorilla-like Grimm, which was pounding its chest before its single, red glowing eye landed on her. Gritting her teeth, she stood her ground as the Grimm charged at her.

Flicking both of her wrists, she took a sidestep as it did a double hand slam onto the ground, its eye following her as she swung her right hand at its side, hidden blade unleashed. Landing a solid blow, she immediately pulled her hand away, blood squirting out and staining a portion of her silver hair, and followed up with her left to the same spot, using its weight to propel herself away from the Grimm. However, with surprising agility, it quickly grabbed her ankle, causing her to cuss out in surprise as it threw her towards a nearby house.

Crashing through, the wind flew out of her lungs as she went through the second set of walls, scraping against the ground painfully. Quickly catching herself, she jumped up onto her feet, immediately kneeling as she coughed, trying to catch her breath. Looking up, her eyes turned red as she glared at the gorilla, now crashing through the now destroyed house while holding a wooden beam.

* * *

"As much as I like your jokes, I'd rather hear an intelligent answer right now."

* * *

Sierra gawked, slamming into another building.

Peeling off of the wall, her aura sparked a little as Sierra wiped off a little blood from her mouth and looked up at the gorilla, now swinging the wooden beam at her. With a strained grunt, she jumped over the swing, which destroyed the wall that she had just been thrown against. Landing back on the ground, she then charged the Grimm, stabbing it several times in the stomach, only for the Grimm to grab her with both hands. Letting out a yelp of surprise, she slowly felt the pressure around her begin to increase, causing her to begin screaming in pain, her aura beginning to spark violently.

The Grimm seemingly chuckled as Sierra looked at it with a pained glare, trying to think up of a situation to get out of her predicament.

* * *

"Right, right. You're going to help them, am I right?"

* * *

A spear suddenly pierced through the gorilla's chest, surprising Sierra as the Grimm's grip immediately faltered, dropping her. Upon landing on the ground, Sierra jumped and drop kicked the Grimm's face, narrowly avoiding the spear tip. With a light rumble, the Grimm landed on the ground, to which a familiar face pulled the spear out and slashed off its head.

"Hotel!?"

Said man looked at Sierra, the wiped his nose and said, "No questions! Just fight!"

* * *

"Damn right I am."

* * *

Lima immediately heard Hotel's voice, her ears perking as she picked off one of the few Griffon flying around. Looking around, she made to run toward the two, only to get cut off by a Nevermore landing in front of her. Lima immediately looked up at it, watching it roar at her as she sprinted and slid under it, firing a couple rounds before she took off behind it, running toward the source of her two teammates' voice.

* * *

"Because after all…"

* * *

Hotel let out a shout, throwing his spear at the Nevermore that was chasing Lima. Sierra ran in after the spear, watching as it nailed the Grimm in the stomach, to which she lined up several knives and sent them flying. Lima slid behind some a collapsed wall, firing away at the Nevermore as Sierra froze time, jumping up and snatching a knife. Unfreezing time, she grabbed the spear, using it to stand on as she jumped up and slashed up its body, letting out a shout as she reached its head and stopped at its neck, freezing time again as she set up a ball of knives around its head, jumping off and throwing another knife at the ball. The ball immediately caved in on the Grimm's head, effectively killing it as a rain of blood fell, Sierra grabbing Hotel's spear as the giant carcass fell.

* * *

"I am…"

* * *

" _Lima."_

Lima's ears perked, adrenaline spiking in her system as she slowly lowered her weapon. Blinking, she perked her ears around, looking around and trying to locate the voice. Sierra and Hotel both looked at the faunus as she put her weapon away and took off in a random direction, trying to locate the source of the voice.

The two glanced at each other, then turned back to see another gorilla Grimm chasing her. They immediately made to follow, only to get cut off by a group of Grimm, most namely Beowolves and Ursa.

* * *

"A member of…"

* * *

Sliding to a stop, Lima looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"LIMA!"

Turning around, Lima felt time slow down as the gorilla roared and made to slam its two fists down on her. Widening her eyes, Lima made to grab her axe, realizing that if she had no margin for error.

* * *

"Team SHLD."

* * *

A gust of wind blew past Lima's head, her bangs flowing after it.

A sword stuck itself into one arm of the gorilla, throwing it backwards.

Blinking, Lima kept her hands on her axe as another sword flew past and stabbed it in its other arm, throwing it onto the ground, followed by two more that stabbed into its legs. Sierra and Hotel, having just finished their group of Grimm, ran up to see the Grimm being held down by four swords, struggling to rid itself of its bindings.

Just then, another sword, this one shaped like a katana, came down and stabbed its chest, catching the three by surprise as a swordsman appeared, holding onto said katana.

Amethyst eyes reflected the Grimm's strained roars as the figure pulled the sword out of its chest. The three hunters stared in awe as the swordsman cut off one arm, the Grimm roaring in pain, followed by another arm, then its two legs. The Grimm wiggled around, roaring in desperation as the swordsman lifted a hand, the four swords holding down its appendages lifting into the air.

Lima stared on, too awestricken as the swordsman motioned his hand down, the four swords stabbing downward, effectively killing the Grimm. The Grimm slowly disappeared beneath him, to which three of the four swords floated upwards and merged with the katana in his hand into a larger single-edged sword, to which he hiked onto his shoulder. Just then, he smirked, then appeared behind Lima, holding another sword that had somehow appeared behind her, catching her off guard as the figure chuckled.

"Hey...partner."


	19. A Strained Promise

**Okay, the anticipation is killing me. These next two chapters are gonna be uploaded in rapid fire, so read quick, and I hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ruby pretty much right after Delta disappeared...**

* * *

 _Sierra knocked on the door that was Delta's apartment, knowing that Ruby had holed herself up in the place. Carrying a box lunch, she knocked again, knowing Ruby was inside. As the seconds passed, Sierra leaned against the side railing, pulling out her pocket watch and counting the seconds._

 _The seconds quickly turned to minutes._

 _One minute._

 _Five._

 _Ten._

 _Twenty._

 _At twenty-five, Sierra walked over and grabbed the door knob, surprised as she twisted it open and pushed the door._

" _Ruby?"_

 _Immediately, she was greeted to Ruby sitting at the table, staring blankly at the space in front of her. Sierra felt her heart throb as Ruby blankly turned to her, then slowly smiled and tiredly said, "…oh…hi…Sierra…."_

 _Sierra furrowed her brow, walking over to the red head as she stood up and said, "Let…let me…get you something to drink…."_

 _However, before she could stand up fully, Sierra wrapped her arms around the other huntress, catching Ruby by surprise._

 _Ruby blinked, her eyes wide with surprise as the door swung itself closed. Sierra held the other young woman tight, feeling a flux of emotion course through her body as Ruby immediately went limp. The latter immediately felt tears rise to her eyes as Sierra stated, "…We…we miss him too…Ruby."_

 _Ruby's eyes trembled as she went tightened her body, returning Sierra's embrace. She sniffled as her face scrunched up and let out a sob. A tear streaked down both girls' cheeks as Ruby's cries escaped._

" _Uhh…!"_

 _Ruby's grip steadily got tighter as she dug her face into Sierra's shoulder to try to muffle her cries._

" _Del…! Del…!"_

* * *

 **Some time after Sierra's rescue mission...**

* * *

 _Delta's sword clashed with Jaune's as the two squared off. Pyrrah sat nearby as Delta pushed Jaune back, slashing repeatedly at his shield. Sparks flew off of the white metal as Jaune grit his teeth, then let out a shout and pushed back, driving Delta off his feet before he went in for his own slash. Delta immediately raised his own sword, blocking the attack, then stabbed his sword over Jaune's shield, just narrowly clipping a piece of blonde hair off of Jaune's head. Seeing his moment, Jaune charged forward, bashing Delta with his shield, causing the latter to reel back in surprise before he charged._

 _Pyrrah ate away at some scones that Ruby had dropped off as Delta backed up and synchronized with his swords, floating them over his shoulder as Jaune began a flurry of attacks, to which Delta dodged with ease._

 _Picking his moment, Delta lowered one of his sword's floated trajectory, blocking one more slash from Jaune before he plucked the free sword from the air and did a powerful slash against his shield, scraping off a little paint and throwing the blonde off balance before he slid underneath Jaune's shield, shoulder tackling the larger man to the ground and pointing his sword at the blonde's neck. Jaune grimaced, then opened his eyes, widening them at the sight of the sword at his neck as Delta grinned, breathing heavily._

" _You've gotten better," Delta stated, pulling his sword away and sheathing it into Alternate Echo. Jaune sighed and took the hand that Delta extended, getting helped to his feet as Pyrrah walked over, clapping as she said, "Very nicely done, Jaune! Just a little more work and you'll be able to hold your own!"_

" _I don't know what you're talking about," Delta stated, wiping the sweat from his brow as he continued, "He's holding his ground already. Maybe in a couple years, he'll be able to land a blow on me."_

" _Oh, come now," Pyrrah stated, giggling as Jaune sheathed his sword and replied, "I won't ever beat you, it seems."_

" _It's all experience, dude," Delta stated, groaning as he rotated his arm, "You'll get the hang of it…probably."_

 _Just then, a tug on Delta's shirt caught his attention, turning around to see Lima looking up at him._

" _What's up, partner?"_

 _Lima turned to look at Yang with Hotel in an apparent sleeper hold, the man tapping out in submission as Yang yelled, "How about it, babe!? Wanna keep wrestling!?"_

 _Delta couldn't help but laugh as Sierra appeared next to him, sighing as she shook her head and said, "My goodness…those two…a match made in heaven."_

" _Sure sure," Delta replied, then looked around for his red-headed fiancé, who immediately ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his left arm. Ruby snuggled against him as best she could before she looked at him, her innocent, silver eyes sparkling up at him. Delta blinked, then sighed and snaked his arm around her waist, turning back to Jaune and Pyrrah, the former of which was already taking his training steps with the latter leading him as usual._

* * *

 **The night before Delta disappeared...**

* * *

" _Phew…"_

 _Delta popped out from under his blanket, Ruby not far after him as they enjoyed their afterglow. Ruby laid on Delta's chest as the latter stared up at the ceiling, simply appreciating her presence as Ruby cooed and said, "I can never get enough of you."_

" _Likewise," Delta replied, laughing lightly. Ruby's eyes cracked open, her smile widening as she traced her name on his chest. Delta closed his eyes, smiling as he raised a hand and ran it through Ruby's hair._

" _Hey, Del?"_

 _Delta looked down at Ruby._

" _You…you're not leaving me…are you?"_

" _Huh? Where'd that come from?"_

" _Just…umm…."_

 _Delta blinked, then smiled and held her tighter._

" _Ruby."_

 _Said red head looked up at him._

" _I'm not going anywhere."_

* * *

"Remember when you said that?"

Ruby caressed the picture of her and Delta, where he was holding he from behind and she gripped his arm, smiling brightly at the camera. She furrowed her brow, smiling as she touched her locket with her other hand. Closing her eyes, she pictured Delta's smile in her mind, then looked out the window with the setting sun, the moon just beginning its slow cruise through the sky.

"…It's gonna be another warm one, tonight."


	20. Delta

"Hey…partner."

Lima stood still, frozen in place as the swordsman pulled his sword out of the ground, connecting it to his other sword into a double-edged sword. Sierra and Hotel, in disbelief, simply stared as the swordsman put the sword onto his back, the sound of it latching onto something filling the air. Amethyst eyes looked up slowly, eyeing down all the Grimm now surrounding them as the swordsman said, "I suggest you duck."

Immediately, Lima lowered herself, a hand on the ground as the sword on his back broke apart into four different blades, all scattering and slashing away all the Grimm around them.

Getting onto a knee, Lima slowly glanced back, only to get stopped as the swordsman said, "Don't."

Flinching, Lima stopped as the swordsman continued, "Don't…turn around."

Turning back to back with him, Lima pulled her axe out into rifle mode as the swordsman then said, "Check left."

Immediately, Lima fired her gun left, then proceeded with a shot to the right. The two then swapped positions as the swordsman willed his swords back to him, slashing away at the Grimm jumping at them, followed by Lima, who picked off Grimm that were running toward them. In an almost sensual dance, the two traded spots time and time again before eventually, Lima leaned back as a Creep jumped at him, to which the swordsman turned and caught her, slashing the Grimm in half.

Blinking, Lima's eyes locked with familiar amethyst eyes, to which the latter returned the gaze and smiled. Her heart jumped as the swordsman said, "Hi, Lima."

"Del…ta…?"

Just then, the swordsman, now confirmed to be Delta, swung her back to her feet, spinning her around as he cut down more Grimm.

"Lima, back!"

Lima flinched at Sierra's voice, then jumped away as Hotel immediately took her place. Another Beringal appeared, roaring as it pounded its chest. Delta and Hotel both smirked, then charged it, to which it grabbed a wooden beam and motioned to throw it. Seeing the motion, Hotel slid to a stop, then took a hop step and threw his spear, the projectile flying past the swordsman's head as it hit the Grimm's arm, slowing it down slightly before Delta jumped, letting out a shout as he plucked one of the larger swords he was floating around out of the air, then slashed downward at the wooden beam, cutting clean through it. However, the sword continued its path, connecting with the Grimm's arm, the blade lodging itself into the Grimm's bone plate.

Grimacing, Delta called in his second sword, identical to the sword currently stuck in the bone plate, slashing downward again, cutting the arm clean off as the Beringal let out a roar. However, before it could grab the first huntsman, Hotel came charging in, grabbing his spear and pulling it back rather violently, dragging it to the ground. Connecting the two onto his katana, Delta quickly regained his footing and did a draw slash down on the gorilla Grimm's head, cutting it clean off.

Putting the sword back onto his back, he broke off the two larger blades once more, then felt time slow down as Sierra floated behind him.

"You know what to do…," Sierra stated, flicking a knife in front of Delta.

Blinking, he dropped one of his swords and grabbed the knife, seeing a circuit of sorts flow through the metal. Tossing the knife up, Delta then raised a hand, feeling all the knives Sierra had laid down lift off the ground. Grunting, the strain quickly built on Delta's one arm, causing him to grit his teeth as he lifted the knives and set them into position.

Appearing behind him again, Sierra smirked as she snapped her fingers, Delta desynchronizing with the knives immediately, the knives flying from their spots and killing all the Grimm in the immediate area.

Dropping to a knee, Delta waved his hand, then picked up his sword again and floated the other two over his shoulder, connecting the one in his right hand onto his katana. Grimm immediately surrounded them again, all four going back to back.

"Well, long time no see, D," Sierra stated.

"Good to see ya, bud," said Hotel.

"Delta," Lima said in blatant happiness.

Delta blinked, then closed his eyes and smiled before he opened them and said, "Okay, enough with the melo happiness bullshit, we've got a job to do!"

* * *

Grimm bodies dissolved all around.

Sierra dropped onto the ground, breathing heavily as Hotel wiped the sweat from his brow, spinning his spear around before minimizing it to its carrying form. Townsfolk all around began filing back in, surveying the damage all around them as Sierra put a hand to her face, then glanced over to where her faunus and swordsman were.

Lima caught her breath, glancing at the amethyst-eyed swordsman just several feet away from him.

Delta slashed his katana twice through the air, then waved his other four swords around his body, the swords floating around before connecting to his katana in a somewhat large, double-edged sword, to which he attached onto a keeper on his back.

Slowly approaching him, Lima slowly suck a hand out toward him, only to get cut off by Delta turning around and patting her head. Keeping a straight face, he looked down at his former faunus partner, lowering his face to press his forehead to hers. Lima's eyes widened, her heart jumping for joy as he slowly smiled and said, "…Hi…Lima."

"Del…ta…!"

Lima's eyes immediately watered up as she smiled and jumped into him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Delta…! Delta!"

Laughing in happiness, she jumped in her hug on him, Delta smiling as much as he had in two-and-a-half years.

"Delta."

Turning his head, said swordsman turned to look at his former leader, the silverette approaching him with Hotel. Lima turned back to face them, slowly slipping away from Delta as Sierra stood in front of him, a serious look on her face as Delta's smile faded away. Immediately, Sierra raised an open hand, reeling back slightly. However, Delta didn't flinch, staring right back at her as her hand trembled and slowly lowered, Sierra's composure slowly falling as she lunged at him and hugged him. Delta blinked, then smiled as Sierra began beating on his chest, then pushed herself away and said, "What the fuck have you been doing this whole time!?"

Delta kept his eyes on the silverette, then looked at Hotel, then Lima, then averted his gaze from all three and said, "I…I can't say…at the moment."

"What? Why not? We're your team, aren't we?"

"It's not that. It's…," Delta thought to himself for a moment, "I'm…not allowed to say anything right now."

The three kept their eyes on him as he sighed again and said, "Look…I was told to keep my mouth shut, so I'm gonna do that. Now, if you guys want answers, then go talk to Ozpin because Ironwood is just gonna be a brick wall."

Sierra blinked, then scratched the back of her head and sighed as she said, "…I know that all too well."

"Sierra," Delta then stated, "You should. You have the most blood on your hands."

"Don't need to remind me, asshole," Sierra shot back as Hotel approached the still shorter man. Delta glanced at him as he approached, seeing Hotel raise a fist to him. Blinking, Delta looked away, then turned back and gave the fist a pound with his own, before the two high-fived and locked hands, shoulder bumping as Hotel said, "Good to see you alive, bud."

"Good to see Yang hasn't incinerated you yet either, bro," Delta replied, getting a laugh from the other man as Hotel stated, "Same could be said about our kid!"

Delta blinked, soaking in the information as Sierra snorted a laugh, Lima trying to hold back from laughing as Hotel let go of the swordsman's hand and patted his back, laughing his heart out as Delta finally yelled, "You have a KID!?"

"Delta," Sierra chuckled, "You've missed too much."

Finally regaining her composure, Sierra approached him again, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be good to have the old Ruby back."

Delta's breath hitched at the sound of Ruby's name, his heart throbbing a little. Lima's ears perked slightly, taking immediate notice as Delta looked down at Sierra's feet, the silverette and spear user behind him taking notice immediately. Delta remained silent for a moment, thinking about all the things that Ruby must've gone through, then slowly looked up and asked, "…how…how is she…these days?"

Sierra dropped her hand, then scratched the back of her head and replied, "Well…Rosey is…better."

"'Better?'"

"Dude," Hotel sighed, "Ruby was a mess."

Delta turned back to look at Hotel, then back to Sierra as she said, "She…didn't take the news very well. Broke down, holed herself up in the apartment, wouldn't come out for days to the point where all of us were taking turns caring for her."

Delta's heart dropped.

Immediately, guilt flooded his system as Lima walked up to him and hugged him, attempting to calm him down.

"Oh…oh god…," Delta breathed out, "What…what did I…?"

"D, calm down," Sierra stated, grabbing his shoulder again, "She's fine. She'll be even better when you get back."

"But…what if she…?"

"She won't hate you, bro," Hotel stated, "she's waited too long to hate you."

* * *

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

"Answer it."

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

"You're pissing me off. Answer it."

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

"Oh, for the love of…you're driving me nuts! Answer the damn scroll!"

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

"I swear to god, if you don't answer that scroll, I'm gonna-!"

 ***click***

"…hi…I still don't know if these messages are getting to you. It's…starting to get hard. Sierra and Lima aren't back yet, and Yang tells me that Hotel just went missing, too."

"Wait, what?"

"It seems like everyone is leaving everyone nowadays. First my mom and now…."

"…she sounds like she just got done crying."

"Del…please…come back…!"

"…"

"Come back…to me…!"

"…"

"Please…!"

 ***beep***

" **End of message."**

"…have you been doing that this WHOLE time? Cuz if you have, you're really pissing me off. A LOT."


	21. The New Sword

**Oh my goodness, how long have I kept you guys waiting? Sorry for the haitus; I've been super busy and uncreative lately it isn't even funny. Anyway, this is a shorter chapter, and I just wanna say to you guys who've been waiting, thanks for reading, hope you guys enjoy, and I'll catch you all later!**

* * *

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep be-***

 ***click***

"BABE, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO!?"

"Easy, Yang, easy."

"Yeah, easy for you to say! Where are you!?"

Hotel sighed then began pleading his case as Delta held a cup of water to his mouth, taking a sip as Sierra said, "she seems to be in a good mood."

"No kidding," Delta replied, the fire they were sitting at flickering ever so slightly. Lima scooted closer to Delta, snuggling with him due to her very canine nature as Delta began petting her hair, simply listening to Hotel trying to fight a losing battle to Yang. A smile graced his face before Sierra stated, "I see you're still as attached to home as ever, eh?"

Delta took a glance at the silverette, who then said, "This little town is barely a day away from Vale."

"Oh, right," Delta replied, "Yeah, I suppose."

"Speaking of which," Sierra continued, eyeing Delta's sword curiously. Delta blinked, then turned his head to look at his sword handle, then back at Sierra as he asked, "…want to see it?"

"Please," Sierra replied, causing Delta to pat Lima's head, waking her up from her little nap as he stood up. Stepping to the other side of the fire, Delta closed his eyes, concentrating his aura on his sword, which in turn, the sound of latches breaking apart filled the air as the sword itself broke off into four different blades, each in its own unique pair, alongside with the katana blade still attached to Delta's back. Sierra purred with interest as Delta opened his eyes, using his aura to wave his swords around his body, then back into one sword on his back as he turned back to Sierra and asked, "satisfied?"

"It's interesting, that's for sure," she replied, "I'm gonna guess that's that one vendor's design?"

"In a sense, yeah," Delta said, scratching the back of his head as he continued, "though the katana is my own twist."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well…."

Delta reached back, grabbing the sword handle, then heard a latch undo itself as he pulled the katana-bladed sword out from the other swords encasing it. Sierra, Lima, and Hotel, who had just gotten off the phone, all stared on in awe as Delta stated, "Each sword can be pulled out individually. All of them have their own unique roles. Quite useful when I'm stuck in a situation where I need either a specific technique, or have to experiment my way out of situations."

"So it's essentially a swiss army knife," Hotel inquired, putting his finger under his chin. Delta snorted a laugh, then sheathed the katana into its literal sword sheath and replied, "In a sense, yeah."

Two of the swords broke off the sheath, the two being smaller, double-edged swords with no proper handles. Delta waved them around, then watched them float over his shoulder. The other three stared on in curiosity as Delta stated, "These two are the ones that I use for support, for parrying, stabbing, all that good stuff."

Delta then reached back and grabbed two larger blades that made up the double edges of the sheath, pulling them off the katana.

"These two are the wedge busters," he continued, "Mostly cutting through all the hard stuff. Which Hotel was in the front row seat to see."

Hotel nodded, remembering the sight of Delta cutting through the Beringal's arm.

"And finally…"

Delta then stuck the two larger, single-edged swords into the ground and synced with the katana, pulling it off his back and waving it around before he finally floated it in front of himself. Grabbing onto the handle, he swung it twice in the air, then smiled to himself. Sierra observed the sword, noticing a slight, blue tint to it as Delta stated, "this one…is my favorite."

"And why's that," Sierra asked, touching her chin out of curiosity. Delta smiled, putting the blade on his shoulder as he replied, "Simply put, it does what both the other two sets do. All in one."

"Well, go figure," Sierra sighed, poking her forehead from the obvious answer. Delta chuckled, then waved all the swords back, the two larger swords encasing the katana, followed by the two smaller swords attaching to the sides of the now double-edged sword. Slashing the air twice, Delta slipped the weapon onto his back again, the other three somewhat amazed.

Delta then let out a sigh, walking over to a nearby stump and sitting down. Lima, taking notice of his sudden drop in mood, immediately walked over and sat down next to him, nuzzling into him. Sierra then approached, followed by Hotel, the former sitting on Delta's other side, and the latter sitting on the ground in front of him. Sensing the amazingly droopy mood, Sierra scoffed as she leaned onto him and asked, "What's on your mind?"

There was a moment of silence. Delta hesitated to tell his former teammates about what was on his mind, the three immediately sensing his hesitation. After a solid half-hour of silence, Delta finally sighed and said, "…Did you guys…fight a strange trio?"

Immediately, the girls took notice. Hotel raised an eyebrow, somewhat thrown for a loop. Lima's ears perked up aggressively as she remembered the woman who almost shot her ears off. Sierra grit her teeth, getting off of Delta as she clenched her fists. Delta, immediately knowing the answer, stood up and helped Hotel to his feet as Sierra said, "You weren't there for it, Hotel, but there were three guys who attacked us when I went on that supervisor job."

"No kidding," Hotel whistled as Delta clenched his fists. Lima, sensing his distress, immediately hopped off the stump and approached him again, her ears lowering as she touched his arm. Glancing at her, Delta sighed and pat her head, saying, "I'm fine."

"Are you now?"

Turning to Sierra, Delta blinked as the silverette stated, "Those three gave us a run for our money. How do you know about them, anyway?"

Delta again blinked, then sighed and said, "…Because they threatened Ruby, that's how I know them."


	22. The Rose's Head

**Holy shit that was an intense couple months of writer's block! Sorry for the extended delay, y'all. I've been trying to figure out my life for these past few months and finally decided to just write this to take my mind off of my troubles. And also because I haven't updated in, what, two, three months? Anyway, I apologize ahead of time if this chapter seems a little half-assed, hope you guys enjoy, and I'll talk to y'all later!**

* * *

Ruby sighed, leaving Al's Tavern after one of her tougher days helping out. After Delta's disappearance, she had made it a point to help out his dad from time to time at the tavern since said man was getting older and didn't have much help outside his wife and Echo. Despite it all, however, she still managed to keep up with her weekly schedule of going out and hunting Grimm, as well as the occasional weapons maintenance of various huntsman and huntresses, her now personal hobby. From the awkwardly shaped swords to the strange spears, each huntsman's weapon was as unique in design as their owners' personalities.

As she made her way back to the outskirts of town, the sound of a crow cawing caught her attention. Turning around, she spotted a crow perched on one of the light posts, smiling and waving at it, knowing all too well that it was her uncle Qrow. The crow simply cocked its head as Ruby continued making her way back to her house, humming all the way.

" _I found you."_

Ruby flinched, turning around and instinctively grabbing Crescent Rose. Keeping her hands on her weapon, she glanced around as the crow cawed and took to the sky. Watching it, she couldn't help but feel eyes watching her closely as she relaxed a little, letting go of her weapon and standing back up properly. Slowly, she turned back around, continuing her walk back home.

Unknown to her, a shadow began to pool in a nearby alleyway.

A head popped out of the pool, the face of the figure grinning as they slowly rose from the puddle. The puddle slowly began to grow larger as two more figures rose from the muck, the smaller of the three giggling evilly and the larger slamming his fists together.

* * *

"This is still unbelievable."

Delta turned to Sierra, a little confused as the silverette cocked her head to the side. The team had been traveling for the better part of the entire day, having decided to go back to Vale. Much to the dismay of Delta.

Sierra once again glanced at Delta and grinned as she said, "I still can't believe that you were this close to home."

"Is there...something wrong with that?"

Delta raised an eyebrow as Sierra nodded and said, "we went through hell and back just to find you, and you casually appear right under our noses."

Delta blinked, then laughed as he crossed his arms behind his head as he responded, "well, I had to lead you guys off somehow."

"Oh, so you WERE avoiding us," Sierra asked as she shot a playful glare at him. Delta sighed as he smiled back, nodding in agreement. Immediately, Lima turned around from her spot in line and made to slap his cheek. However, with his still somewhat ridiculous reaction time, Delta leaned out of it, catching his Faunus partner just before she spun out of control. Hotel immediately laughed, having taken the tail end of the group.

Sierra simply shook her head and lightly laughed as she said, "I swear...how did you do that?"

"Didn't leave anything obvious," Delta replied in his usual, uninspiring persona. Sierra blinked, then sighed and shook her head. Lima's ears also flattened at the bland answer as Hotel snickered in the back, knowing all too well how much Sierra hated boring answers.

"Seriously, I'm gonna take it that you haven't learned a single thing about humor, have you?"

"What're you talking about? I know enough," Delta replied, "I just choose not to be funny."

"I swear to god…," Sierra grumbled, "remind me again why we were on the same team?"

"Because no one else can mesh with everyone, _leader_ ," Delta stressed the last word, causing Sierra to sigh again and ask, "How in the world did you manage to make it by for two and a half years?"

* * *

Ruby relaxed, sitting in her water-filled tub as she contemplated life.

" _Two and a half years already…."_

Her eyes stayed fixated on the ceiling.

" _He's been gone...two and a half years already…."_

Closing her eyes, she let out a content sigh as she sunk lower into the water. Aside from her usual duties as a Huntress, as well as her side projects and almost-community service, the worst-scenarios had run through her mind hundreds, if not thousands of times. Slowly opening her eyes, she could feel a trail of warm water streak down her cheek.

* * *

" _Hey! Can you get me another shot?"_

" _Coming right up!"_

 _Ruby zipped by, getting the customer another shot of his drink as people laughed happily all around her. Her usual routine of helping out Delta's parents had become a regular occurrence in her free time when she wasn't taking on a job, often having to deal with the occasional bar fight whenever Echo was hung up with something else, or even the ever growing number of guys who try hitting on her. She took none of it, however, often ignoring them or showing them her ring and saying that she was engaged. That is, until one of the regular hitters managed to dislodge a sensitive spot._

" _C'mon Ruby! You know that Delta's hit the hay!"_

 _The sound of a slap had caught the attention of everyone in the tavern and then some._

 _Ruby had immediately proceeded to beat the man to a bloody pulp before she was finally pried off by Qrow, how had been drinking at the bar. She screamed bloody murder at the man as she was dragged out of the tavern and taken back home. Almost immediately, she had broken down, crying the majority of the night, often waking up from nightmares of seeing Delta in a pool of blood with a sword in his chest._

* * *

Ruby let out another sigh, this one full of sadness, as she began blowing bubbles in the water. Another streak of warm water trailed down her cheek as she slowly smiled, very negative emotions filling it as she sobbed once, then twice, then sniffled as she dunked her head under the water to hide the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks.

Coming back up, she took a deep breath of air as she stared up at the ceiling again, then slowly lowered herself back into the water.

"...Del…."

* * *

 **One more thing, and I probably shouldn't be asking this, but what do y'all think about ? I'm not thinking of doing it, but one of my friends basically lost his entire fanbase because he tried to go full-time into writing fanfiction. Again, I'm NOT doing , it's just a question, and I don't want any hate messages or anything of the like. Anyway, again, hope y'all enjoyed, and I'll talk to y'all later!**


	23. Versus her Heart

"Ooooh, I'm just itching to go, brother!"

"Easy, dear sister. You'll get the chance, soon enough."

"Soon enough isn't good enough."

 ***CLANG!***

"Relax, little brother. You will also get your chance soon."

"Well how SOON!?"

 ***CLANG!***

"Very soon. Hehehehe."

* * *

Ruby sighed, walking out onto the front porch of her house, and looked out onto Vale. It had been several days since her last depressive spell, but, just like always, she managed to pull through. Doesn't mean to say that the negative thoughts were still in her head.

A knock on the door caught Ruby's attention.

The redhead glanced at the door as the person behind it knocked again, causing her to sigh as she approached it. Opening it, she was greeted by the welcome sight of Yang dropping by with Flare. The older blonde immediately hugged her, to which Ruby happily complied with her own hug, welcoming her sister and niece.

"So I finally managed to get a hold of Hotel."

Ruby blinked, unsurprised as she immediately pulled out some cookies she had made a few days ago. Smiling to herself, she remembered how said man would often leave on random missions without informing his wife, especially if it was a mission that involved him going somewhere with Sierra. Yang then proceeded to talk about how annoyed she was that he had gone off on his own again, even after he promised to stay and let the girls in his group handle the situation.

" _Ah, finally something to help keep my mind off of things…,"_ Ruby thought to herself as she went back into the living room to talk with Yang.

* * *

"It's almost time."

"Oooh, I'm so excited!"

 ***CLANG*** "About damn time!"

"Patience, brother."

"Enough patience! I've waited long enough!"

"Nonsense. First, we need the White Fang to make their move."

"And make our move we shall."

"Ah, welcome, Mr. Taurus."

* * *

 **Delta's POV**

* * *

I sigh, hearing the whirling of Hotel's spear in the background as he kept up with his training regiment. Doesn't mean to say that I don't keep up with my own training, but hey, I don't want to train with this much stuff on my mind. What kind of stuff? Lets just say things that the others don't need to know right now.

"Speaking of which…"

I turn to Sierra, who's drinking from her canister.

"I'm surprised that you aren't training with him."

"As if I want to bother messing with him outside of a controlled area," I reply, sighing as Sierra nods. Despite having been on the move for a while, we were still some time away from Vale. Even then, I wouldn't have gone straight to...never mind.

"So what are you gonna say to her?"

I look at Sierra again as she continues, "To Ruby, I mean."

I feel my heart jump a little, then feel Lima nuzzle against me as Sierra continues, "You've been gone for two years and then some, D. You should see her."

"That-."

And suddenly, I was lost for words.

Sierra, seemingly sensing it, immediately turns to face me, dropping her canister as she says, "Don't give me any bullshit. If I have to drag you to your new house against your will, I'll do it even if I have to beat you half-way to death."

"Good god, at least your death threats haven't changed," I sigh, then hear Lima giggle. I blink, then look at said partner, her ears wagging happily as she then says, "Old Sierra's back."

"Huh?"

I look back at Sierra, who's eyebrows are raised in surprise before she turns away, picking up her canister and drinking out of it again. I blink as Hotel laughs, then turn to look at said man as he walks over, spear in carrying mode as he wipes away the sweat from his brow. I blink again, then turn back to Lima, who simply nuzzles on me again as Sierra pulls out her scroll again, then pops to her feet and says, "Well, let's get moving again."

* * *

"See you later, Ruby!"

"Bye Yang! Say hi to dad for me!"

Yang shoots a thumbs up as Ruby smiles, then sighs and shuts the door. She had managed to get some intense feelings out of her system by talking with Flare, who obviously did not understand most of what her aunt was talking about. If she had told Yang about her feelings as of late...she wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Hey kiddo."

Flinching, Ruby immediately turned to look at the dining table, her uncle Qrow sitting at it drinking from his canister per usual. Blinking, Ruby smiles, then joins him. Qrow smiles back, setting his canister down as he leans on the table and says, "Enjoyed your talk with your sister?"

"You don't need to eavesdrop on all of our talks," Ruby replies, giggling. Qrow simply chuckles and leans back on his chair's backrest as he says, "Can't help it when one of my favorite nieces has a target on her back."

Immediately, Ruby's smile fades. Qrow's face immediately turns serious as Ruby's brow furrows, clearly confused. Qrow sighs and stands up, going to the sliding porch door as he says, "You're in danger, kiddo."

"What? Why? How?"

"Typical questions," Qrow sighs again, then motions for Ruby to join him. Reluctantly, the latter did just that, to which the former then says, "I'm not supposed to tell you anything, but the job isn't done yet, so I'll just come out with it. Delta was sent to go...exterminate some things, persay."

"What!?"

Immediately, Qrow cringes at the tone of Ruby's voice. Slowly looking at her, he immediately sees the massive mix of emotions in her eyes. Her eyes dilate a little as she clenches her fists tightly, to which the man sighs again and says, "I can't get specific, so I'll cut to the chase. The extermination didn't go to plan, so now there's...people after you."

"Wait, what do you mean it 'didn't go to plan!?' Is Delta dead!?"

Qrow immediately scratches his head, groaning at his stupid mistake. Ruby, now growing frustrated at his dodges, begins to grit her teeth, about to start screaming at him. Closing his eyes, Qrow begins to think about possible ways to get out of his predicament as Ruby slowly opens her mouth, about to cut loose.

"...Ruby, he's-."

Just then, the loud humming of an engine fills the air.

Immediately, the two's attention goes to the window, to which an airship zooms past overhead. Qrow then runs over to the other side of the house, watching it fly to Vale before he pulls out his scroll and makes a call.

"Hey. Don't give me that shit! Get your ass to Vale! NOW!"


	24. Giveaway

**...Okay, I'm sorry guys. I can't seem to understand what format I want to use for these chapters, lately. I waver between one or the other and it's literally been killing me, so please don't hate...too much. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll catch y'all later!**

* * *

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep beep beep***

 ***beep bee-click***

"Holy shit, never thought you'd be calling me."

Immediately, Qrow yells at me, to which I wince and pull the scroll away from my ear. Immediately, Lima's ear flicks, suggesting that she heard Qrow's voice as he yells at me for another good minute, to which my eyes widen. Sierra's gaze immediately turns to me, as does Hotel's. I continue listening to Qrow explain the situation to me, to which he ends off with, "And hey, don't be scared."

"What? I'm not scared-."

"Yeah, right."

 ***click***

I hear the dial tone beep for a couple minutes, unable to pull my scroll away as I process what Qrow said about being scared. Suddenly, Ruby's face pops into my head, causing me to flinch. I begin shaking a little, my chest starting to grow heavy as I begin taking in deep breaths to calm down.

The touch of a hand on my shoulder brings me back to Remnant, to which I turn to see Lima nuzzling on my shoulder. I then feel a poke on my forehead, causing me to wince, then look at Sierra, an eyebrow raised at me as she asks, "That was Qrow, right?"

I blink, then sigh and finally pull my scroll away and answer, "...yeah."

Just then, my scroll starts buzzing, catching me off-guard. I look at it again, my heart skipping a beat at the sight of Ruby's name and picture. I feel Sierra's eyes turn their attention to my scroll, then back to me as she again asks, "...not gonna answer?"

I stay quiet and let it keep ringing before I feel it get pried from my hand, Sierra hitting the answer button and asking, "What's up, Ruby?"

* * *

 ***click***

"What's up, Ruby?"

"D-wait, Sierra?"

"The one and only," Sierra laughed, Ruby's heart skipping as the former laughed again, then went silent before saying, "C'mon, quit being a baby!"

"W-wait...what…?"

"Don't worry Ruby," Sierra says again, "We'll be home soon."

"B...but...this is…."

"...Delta's scroll, yes."

Immediately, Ruby's chest flares up in excitement and happiness as Sierra once again yells at someone in the background.

"...C...can I…."

"Ugh...if I could get him to talk, I would, but he's being a baby about it," Sierra says, causing Ruby's heart to jump again. A smile slowly creeps onto her face as Sierra once again yells at whoever she's with before Ruby finally says, "...it's alright."

"Eh?"

"I...I have the proof I need, now."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Yes," Ruby answers, a guilty happy smile on her face as she hangs up abruptly, tears streaming down her cheek in happiness. Looking up, she immediately proceeds to run out the front door, drawing Crescent Rose and taking off to Vale as ominous roars fill the air.

* * *

"Ruby? Ruby?"

I watch Sierra hold my scroll to her ear for a couple seconds before she throws it back to me. Surprised, I fumble around with it before I finally catch it, to which my silverette leader grins at me. I raise an eyebrow in confusion as she says, "You're gonna have one hell of a welcoming party when you get back."

"What the fuck, Sierra…," I sigh, putting my scroll away. I feel Lima nuzzle up with me again, causing me to look down at her as Hotel puts a hand on my free shoulder. I look up at his reassuring smile as Sierra claps her hands together, then says, "Team SHLD! Let's move out!"

* * *

Slowing down her pace, Ruby looks around at the damage, grimacing as people run away from Grimm now overrunning the city.

A roar behind her then caught her attention, causing her to duck as the claw of a Beowolf flew past where her head would've been. Immediately, she fired a round into the ground, hitting the Gimm with the rear end of her scythe's pole. She then followed up with another shot in front of herself, cutting clean through the Grimm as she flew backwards, stopping herself on a building. Jumping back onto the ground, she looked up to see the Grimm disappearing just as several more surrounded her, causing her to grin and say, "It's been awhile since I've seen this much action."

With another shot into the ground, Ruby flew up into the air just as three more jumped at the spot she was just standing at, then fired another round into the air, turning into a bloom of petals before slashing in a circle horizontally, killing the three Grimm around her.

The air around her very quickly turned into roars as she stands upright again, her grin growing wider. Her night was about to get a lot better.

* * *

 **...to hell with it. I'm gonna end up rushing the hell outta this cuz this scenario has been running through my head for the PAST THREE MONTHS! D:**


	25. Seeking

A whistle filled the air as Ruby cut down the last Grimm she had come across, looking around to find the source of the whistle. The sound of airships flying over filled the air as the sound of tapping feet behind her caught her attention. To her surprise, good old Team JNPR ran up to her, greeting her as if nothing had happened in the past few years. The small Grimm extermination had the city on edge as a few Atlesian ships flew overhead, the most notable being a ship in which General Ironwood began barking orders himself.

With a sigh, Ruby put Crescent Rose away, turning to talk to her old friends.

"So where were you guys coming from?"

"We were just hanging out at a local pub when Grimm suddenly began dropping out of the sky," Jaune explained. Ren nodded as Nora immediately followed up with, "Yeah, it was SUPER scary, but we smashed their heads in!"

Pyrrah laughed off her teammate, then said, "In other words, we defeated them."

"Yeah, I could've guessed," Ruby replied, giggling as Ren simply nodded.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

Ruby turned, surprised, as a man approached her, obviously very distressed. Confused, she turned to the man as he looked around nervously, then at her as he then asked, "D...do you know where...I can find the port?"

"The port? Yeah, it's that way-," Ruby pointed in the direction, then looked back at the man, "-why do you ask?"

"I-I just need...to find my family…," the man explained, "I...lost them in the commotion…."

"What? Really? We'll help you find them," Ruby immediately replied, then looked back at Team JNPR and asked, "Right guys?"

"Of couse," Jaune replied, giving a thumbs up. The man gave a nervous smile, then began walking in the direction that Ruby had pointed in. The five proceeded to follow along, on a lookout as the man explained how his family looked like. Ruby, keeping an eye out, listened very closely as Nora tried to keep a conversation going with the man, only for him to avoid almost all forms of communication, as if he were keeping a secret.

And suddenly, Ruby grew very suspicious.

The man's body language was very inconsistent with what he was doing. He seemed...nervous. Like he was plotting something. Glancing at Jaune, who happened to glance back at her, they exchanged silent words as Ruby slowly reached back for Crescent Rose. Jaune then glanced at Pyrrah, exchanging silent words with her as well as he slowly reached for his sword as well, followed by Pyrrah, then the other two.

Immediately, the man's body language turned to that of panic, causing Ruby to bring her scythe around his neck and stop him.

"Alright, I'm suspicious," Ruby immediately stated, "What's your motive?"

"Wh-wh-what m-motive?"

"Don't play stupid," Pyrrah stated next, pointing her sword at the man as well. Immediately, all weapons were on the nervous man, who began panicking and trying to tell inconsistencies in his story that he had been telling the five earlier. Having none of it, Ruby slowly approached him from behind, touching the blade of Crescent Rose ever so slightly as she said, "If you don't tell me, then I'll let my scythe do the talking for me."

The man's breathing suddenly became ragged, then he growled and pushed Ruby away. Pyrrah immediately moved to restrain him, only to be pushed off and thrown into Jaune as Nora and Ren made their move as well.

Backflipping through the shove, Ruby landed back on her feet, regaining her balance.

Only to see a red blade flying toward her face.

Gritting her teeth, she watched the blade clip off a piece of her hair as she fell on the ground, then spun out, causing her attacker to jump away from her. Getting back to her feet, she immediately grabbed Crescent Rose as a masked man with spiked red hair looked at her.

"White Fang," Ruby breathed out as the man spat, then raised his sword again. Raising Crescent Rose, Ruby mentally prepared herself, knowing the fight she was going to get into as the swordsman stood his ground, the man behind him putting up a good fight for the team. The two then began pacing each other, the White Fang member finally sheathing his sword.

Having seen the attack before, Ruby kept her distance, ready to jump out of the way in a moment's notice, knowing all too well the range of the man's slash.

And suddenly, the man was upon her.

Ruby's eyes widened as the man grinned, drawing his sword. In almost slow motion, she watched the sword escape the sheath, time and space warping before her very eyes. A million thoughts immediately filled her head as she slowly took her back step, trying to avoid the attack as the fabric of space was suddenly cut. She could hear the screams of her friends nearby as the blade was now inches away from her body, just barely knicking her shirt.

And then she was tackled to the side, wincing as she began skidding across the ground . The sound of boots scraping the ground in front of her filled her ears, causing her to open them as a silverette knife user looked back at her and asked, "Are you alright, Rosey?"

* * *

A single sword landed and stood upright in the ground.

Then the sound of grunting filled the air as two bodies tumbled across the ground.

Immediately following, the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Then the sound of scraping earth as two swordsman stared each other down, amethyst eyes locking squarely on a white Grimm mask.

"You…!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it Adam?"

* * *

"Are you alright, Rosey?"

Turning around, Sierra reached down, Ruby taking her hand as Lima stood up, patting herself down. Looking at Sierra, she then turned to Lima, then to a just-catching-up Hotel who was gasping for air. She stared at the three, then looked around again, confused, then flustered as her heart began to flutter. She looked around again, then again as Hotel went over to help Team JNPR before Sierra grabbed her by her shoulders, holding her still as she said, "Ruby, calm down."

Looking back at Sierra, the latter shook her head and said, "...come with me."

* * *

Swords clashed again, this time, one swordsman's sword keeping up with the other. Two evenly matched warriors once again stared at each other, having exchanged blows for several minutes. However, even in this brief exchange, they now had a newfound respect for each other, despite one having no respect for the race he fought against. Staring each other down, they exchanged silent words before sheathing their weapons, walking away from each other.

* * *

Ruby ran to the outskirts of Vale, following the lead of Sierra. Lima tagged along as well, seeing as Hotel had the situation in Vale under control, acting as the team's live radar as usual. They wasted little time getting to the area just outside Vale's walls, looking around and spotting a sword sticking out of the ground.

"...wait, isn't that…?"

Sierra glanced at Lima, who nodded as Ruby walked up to it, pulling it out of the ground. For some reason, she just felt so captivated by it. Clutching it tightly, she didn't know why she suddenly had the urge to drop to her knees. Just the feel of it. The very shape of it. Just the fact that the sword was in her arms. It made her...happy.

"RUBY!"

Blinking, she glanced up, seeing a giant fist flying toward her face. With almost no time to react, she suddenly felt hands pull at her necklaces' locket pendant, followed by loud clanging of metal against metal. She blinked, watching in awe as amethyst eyes watched the hands on her locket. Slowly, the hands opened up, revealing the locket had opened, showing a picture of Ruby and her fiance. The eyes blinked, then looked up at the silver irises staring back in surprised.

"D...D…."

The name was stuck in Ruby's throat. Her heart burst in happiness as the oh so familiar face she loved was right in front of her, taking the sword she had been clutching so tightly out of her grasp.

"...D...De…."

Slowly, the swordsman nodded, taking the sword from her completely before kissing her forehead, then turned and stood up, looking at the dark clad man, now grimacing at the swords holding his giant metal fist back.

"...Del...ta…."


	26. Unfinished Business

**Sorry for the late upload, but this chapter is one that I SERIOUSLY considered re-writing. One, because I wrote while I was half-asleep, the other reason is just cuz I wanted to get Ruby more involved. Alas, I'm a bit lazy and this is fanfiction, sooooooo...ENJOY!**

* * *

Delta watched as the dark clad giant of a man grimaced, giant fist against his swords that were between them. Narrowing his gaze, Delta took a stance as the man jumped back, gaining some distance. However, the distance was cleared in a flash as Delta synchronized with a sword that had been stuck in the man's giant gauntlet.

Caught by surprise, the man swung his arm wildly just as Delta pulled it out, moving to slash away the follow-up punch. He then motioned to parry the follow-up after that, blocking a flurry of punches afterwards.

Nearby, Lima, who had ran up to Ruby to help the woman in her shocked state, picked up another sound. Sierra kept her wits about, knowing the probability of two more being around. It was far too convenient for one fighter to be sent alone.

On cue, Lima's attention shot left, to which Sierra froze time, freezing a bullet that was just inches away from Lima's face. Dropping a knife in the bullet's trajectory, she immediately took off in the direction the bullet came from, time slowly resuming. Lima immediately winced, sparks flying as she protected Ruby's face. Suddenly, a body came flying out of the woods, followed by Sierra, who immediately went to town on the gunwoman, who was countering every strike blow for blow.

Meanwhile, Delta chased down the fighter in the forest, trees getting either smashed or cut down as the two exchanged heated blows. Powerful blows were immediately exchanged with faster, quicker slashes, followed by Remnant rumbling collisions as both warriors exchanged blows.

It wasn't long before another joined in the fight, either.

Glancing back, Delta narrowly avoided getting his head chopped off as the swordsman of the triplets appeared, grinning madly as the fighter smashed his fists together. Sheathing his katana, he avoided slashes and punches before taking cover behind a tree, pulling his fully-formed sword out. Almost immediately, the tree he had been using for cover blew up into splinters, to which he swung sideways, then pulled off one half of his sheath, the other wedge-buster, and stabbed it upwards.

The sound of metal cutting through metal, as well as the zapping of aura, filled the forest as Delta then spun to the side, exchanging blows with the swordsman before running to gain some ground on the fighter. The swordsman, gladly following, proceeded to have another heated exchange as the fighter struggled to get the sword out of his fist.

With a mighty heave, the fighter finally pulled the sword out, his gauntlet sparking violently. However, he was immediately greeted with Delta suddenly appearing, standing on the blade with his hand on the sword's handle. Letting out a grunt of surprise, the man made to throw Delta off, only for the swordsman to combine his swords again and slash downward, smashing a sizable chunk out of the gauntlet.

The man let out a scream of pain as Delta leaned back, avoiding a slash from the other swordsman before jumping off and breaking off the portion of the sword he had just connected, parrying the attacks again. The fighter grabbed the destroyed gauntlet, clutching it in pain as the swordsman's attacks became more vicious. Surprised, Delta locked swords with the swordsman, grimacing as the swordsman grinned and said, "Look what you've done. You've hurt my dear little brother."

"Like I'd care," Delta replied, "And for something that isn't human, you sure have some human EMOTIONS!"

Pushing the swordsman back, Delta proceeded to charge, pushing the swordsman back a bit. Taking a step to the side, Delta waited for the fighter's undamaged fist to slam the ground next to him before moving to slash two more gashes in it. He then proceeded to hack away at the gauntlet, to which the fighter swung with is damaged gauntlet. However, Delta ducked under, leaving one sword in the less damaged gauntlet once again as he then pulled the katana out of the remaining sheath, landing two horizontal slashes on the fighter.

The fighter once again let out grunts of pain then attempted a backhand, to which Delta parried easily with the handle butts of his swords, then went in for another side slash, the fighter screaming out in pain again.

Keeping his wits about him, he made sure that the swordsman was nowhere near him before he pulled his next trick.

Connecting one half of the busters again, Delta once again materialized himself on the sword that was still stuck in the less damaged gauntlet, drawing-slashing his other sword on it. With the attack, the man let out a terrifying scream is his forearm went flying off. Black blood squirted out of the wound and severed appendage as Delta proceeded to reverse grip his katana, dropping his other two swords as he stabbed the man in the chest, then threw him out of the woods.

The thud of a body caught Ruby and Lima's attention, the former just finally exiting her state of shock as the larger fighter landed on the ground, coughing up black blood. He then motioned to get back up, only to get slammed back onto the ground as Delta raised his sword and, with a shout, stabbed it back into the man's chest. The fighter gawked, then grabbed the blade, clearly still strong enough to keep Delta from fully stabbing through despite being severely wounded.

Grunting, Delta struggled to get the sword to penetrate deeper as the man screamed, slowly pushing the sword out of him. Centimeters turned into an inch, then two inches as Delta broke a sweat, trying not to lose concentration. He could see the fighter grin, knowing the futility of fighting strength against strength.

And suddenly, a red blur slammed onto the butt of his katana handle.

Lunging downward, the fighter once again gawked in pain as Ruby's shout filled the air again, slamming Crescent Rose back down onto Delta's katana.

With a quick glance at her, Delta pushed back down, shouting himself as the fighter's grip finally went limp. Looking down, he watched the fighter glare at him, almost about to scream profanities or something of the sort before Delta put his hand on the butt of his sword's handle, pushing in all the way through. He could feel the grainy feeling of dirt as he pushed all the way through the body, the fighter letting out another gawk before his eyes rolled. Delta could feel the air rush out of the man's lungs, closing his eyes.

Slowly, but surely, the body began to sink into a puddle.

Ruby, completely caught off-guard, backed off a little as the man's body disappeared into the puddle.

Delta, however, remained vigilant, keeping his sword in the ground as the swordsman from before said behind him, "Oh dear...you've actually managed to **kill** one of us."

Delta glanced back, his sword still in the ground as the swordsman clapped, a maniacal grin on his face as he said, "that's impressive."

Delta remained quiet, then glanced right to see the gunwoman skid across the ground to the swordsman's feet. Sierra and Lima then ran up to Delta's right side as the gunwoman laughed, then stood up, wiping black blood off her mouth. The swordsman simply grinned at her, then snapped his fingers Grimm suddenly appearing around the four as they suddenly began to disappear in a black pool.

Having none of it, Delta charged past the ranks of Grimm, catching the girls off guard as he pulled his sword out of the ground after him.

The swordsman then jumped off the puddle, drawing his own sword.

Both swordsman exchanged a single blow, locking up with each other before Delta was easily kicked away, the man jumping into the pool backwards and disappearing.

Gritting his teeth, Delta glanced around, looking at the Grimm surrounding him. Raising his sword, he prepared for a fight before he felt something lean against his back. Glancing to his left, he spotted the distinct blade of Crescent Rose as Ruby confidently grinned behind him. Blinking at her, he sighed, then said, "...Go."

And then they were gone, doing what they did best.


	27. Reunion

**Did y'all miss me? :)**

 **I'm just gonna be drinking my lemonade over here.**

* * *

Black pools evaporated all over Vale, the city, for the most parts, being in shambles. Many huntsman, huntress, as well as student teams alike, all took a collective sigh as the last Grimm was slain. Cheers could be heard from all over above the carnage as the people rejoiced, the brave men and women reuniting with their families, so on and so forth.

Sierra let out an exhilarated shout as she sat down, leaning back on her arms. Lima followed suit, getting down on her knees and closing her eyes, trying to hide the exhaustion. Hotel retracted his spear, closing his eyes as well as he raised his face, finally able to relax as his semblance slowly faded from his immediate system. Glancing up to look at him, Sierra couldn't help but smile as she looked at her two teammates next to her. Before long, her smile disappeared as her gaze slowly turned to the couple that was just several meters away.

Leaning down, Delta picked the last of his swords up, connecting it onto his main blade before sticking the large sword into the ground altogether. His head was racing, his heart felt like it was going to explode at any minute as the chunk of lead growing in his chest slowly grew heavier and heavier. The eyes he felt staring at his back felt more like they were gazing into his very soul, like he was going to be sent into the afterlife if he even dared to make eye contact with the red head that he loved so much.

Closing his eyes tightly, he raised his head, taking in a deep breath to try and calm his heart. To say he was scared to face Ruby was an understatement. He had been gone for years, so to say that he was MIA and still alive, keeping her in the dark on his assignment, he couldn't bear to feel her wrath, even more so if she decided to break their engagement and leave him again.

"C'mon D," Sierra breathed out, "You'll be fine."

Lima's ear twitched, her gaze going to her leader, then back to Ruby and Delta.

Hotel, just as interested, watched the two as well, crossing his hands behind his head as Ruby continued staring at Delta's back.

"It's alright, D," Sierra breathed out again, slowly smiling as she watched Ruby trying to contain her tears.

With a swallow of his spit, Delta slowly turned around, eyes shut as he lowered his face in a vain attempt to hide it.

"R…Ruby…."

Silence.

Mentally preparing himself for the worst, Delta slowly raised his face, then opened his eyes, opening his mouth to speak again. However, he was suddenly at a loss of words at the face he saw. His eyes widened as he looked at Ruby's crying, yet happy face, her usually pale complexion red with excitement. Tears streamed down her cheek as she opened her mouth as well, presumably to speak, only for her gasping for air to take its place.

Blinking, Delta immediately took note of the smile she was trying so hard to hold back through her flustered expression, slowly raising and opening his arms. Not a moment was wasted as Ruby immediately tackled him, rocking him a little, but not knocking him over. It was then that the chorus of sobs began as she dug her face into his chest, causing him to smile as his own eyes watered a little.

Stopping himself from crying, he closed his eyes, embracing her gently as her death grip on him steadily grew tighter and tighter. However, Delta wasn't going to stop her. It had been too long, and he himself was struggling to not hold her in his own death grip.

"I-I knew it…!"

Ruby grinned happily, tears still rolling down her cheek.

"I knew it! I knew you weren—weren't d-dead! I knew it!"

Nodding, Delta snuggled his face into the crook of her neck, then pulled away slightly.

Ruby, doing the same, immediately looked up into the amethyst purple eyes that she had, heck, was still in love with.

Delta returned the gaze, albeit Ruby's eyes were a bit red from her crying. However, it didn't matter one bit. Touching their foreheads together, Delta closed his eyes again, Ruby doing the same, then they opened them again as Delta, in a quiet voice, said, "Ruby!"

Ruby couldn't help but grin, then leaned up and took a kiss from him, catching him off guard. However, Delta didn't fight. Instead, he embraced the kiss, his first since he had left, embracing Ruby even more intimately.

However, before either of them could deepen it and go any further, Sierra appeared behind Delta and reached over his shoulder, poking Ruby in her forehead. The red head flinched, then pulled away and grinned, turning her face away as she scratched her cheek. Raising an eyebrow, Delta slowly glanced back at Sierra, who simply smiled and shrugged before stating, "We should probably go help the townsfolk first before you two…you know…make up?"

* * *

It had been two hours.

To them, it had felt like an eternity.

Delta discarded his boots at the door mat, followed by Ruby as they entered the small cabin-like house that so similarly resembled Tai Yang's house. Delta couldn't help but smile as he dismounted his sword from its carrier on is back, putting it down next to the front door as he walked in, exploring a little as he looked at the kitchen, the dining room, living room, then upstairs to two bedrooms, one of which was filled with some boxes.

Walking into said room, Delta couldn't help but feel that he had neglected the items that were in the boxes. Walking up to one box in particular, he ripped it open to reveal his old carrying partner; Alternate Echo with its two signature swords. His eyes shined brightly as the handles to both swords flipped up. Dropping down onto his knees, he reached up with a shaky hand and grabbed one of the handles, slowly drawing the blade. It was beautiful; almost as if he had never drawn the swords since he stopped using them.

"This is all of your stuff."

Turning around, Delta's eyes met Ruby's form, to which she had undressed and gotten into some pajamas, albeit the same childish design she had worn back at their Beacon days.

Ruby, albeit hesitantly, entered the room, her fingers brushing against some boxes as she averted her gaze and stated, "I…didn't want to unpack anything for you so…I left it alone."

Turning back to his sword, he saw an almost clear reflection of himself, then raised it a little to see Ruby slowly glance at him, then turn her gaze away once more.

Raising an eyebrow, Delta put the sword down, sheathing it, then stood up and walked up to his fiancé. Ruby's eyes slowly went back up to his as he took her hands, holding them. Ruby's eyes once again trailed down to their embraced hands, then back up to his face as she slowly smiled and asked, "Did you get bigger again?"

Delta couldn't help but grin as he shrugged and replied, "Not sure. I haven't been keeping track of my weight."

A giggle later, Ruby's arms looped around his neck, to which Delta did the same around her waist as they shared a kiss.

Caressing the small of her back, Delta pulled away slightly, only for Ruby's eager lips to give chase and kiss him again, catching him off guard a little. However, Delta immediately made to push his tongue into her mouth, receiving a small "mmph" of surprise from Ruby, who gave little resistance as he made himself familiar with her tongue again. Ruby's grip on him tightened slightly as he then pulled her waist in closer to his, pulling away from the kiss as a small string of saliva kept them together.

With a slightly heavy breath, Ruby looked up at Delta, and vice versa, their hearts slowly starting to pick up the pace.

Pushing herself away, Ruby grabbed Delta's hand and pulled him to the master bedroom, revealing that she had kept their old bed. Raising an eyebrow, Delta looked at Ruby, watching her tug at his shirt slightly before going back in for another kiss. Happily obliging, Delta slowly peeled his shirt off, pulling away to get it over his head before he eagerly went back in for another kiss, slowly pushing Ruby backwards, and ultimately on top of their bed.

Holding himself above her, he could feel his face begin to fluster as he looked at her now longer hair splay out a little, her arms spread out defenselessly as she stared back up at him, noting how much he was actually holding back.

Without exchanging words, she leaned up and kissed him, then sat up and began taking her own shirt off, revealing no bra.

The small lump in Delta's pants slowly began to grow, catching Ruby off guard a little before she began discarding her pajama bottoms, revealing a slightly soaked pair of panties. Delta stared at the naked form of his fiancé as she pushed him back a little, then walked over to him, swinging her hips from left to right extremely seductively before dropping to her knees and undoing the belt that held his pants up. Delta could only watch as she undid the button and zipper, then pulled down his pants with his own underwear.

Then he couldn't help but grin at her gasp as his member came free.

Ruby stared at his cock, wide-eyed, then looked up at him as if she was a virgin seeing him for the very first time. Delta couldn't help but chuckle as he reached down and pet her head, then began tangling bits of her hair in his fingers before she pulled back his foreskin, pumping him lightly, a light moan escaping from his lips. His gaze then went back to her as he watched her lick the tip, then take his cock into her mouth, watching her bob her head forward and backwards, alternating between sucking and blowing.

"Holy fuck, Rubes," Delta quietly moaned out as Ruby closed her eyes, smiling as best as she could as her jaw was spread almost to its limit.

Ruby kept up her blowjob, on occasion leaving just the tip in her mouth and swirling her tongue around Delta's head, then would sometimes deep throat him as best as she could, her gagging only turning him on even more as he grew harder. By the time Ruby was finished, her fingers at her nether lips getting her nice and wet, her eyes widened again at the size that Delta had grown to, a full nine, more or less. Her whole body quivered as she stood up, smiling nervously as they shared a kiss, then she walked over to the bed and laid on her back. Spreading her legs, Delta watched as Ruby began rubbing herself, then finger herself, her light moans filling the bedroom.

"Ah…ah…Del…," Ruby moaned, her eyes closed in concentration, then opened them again and stated, "I…I can't…do it without you…anymore…Del!"

Taking it as his invitation, Delta approached her, taking her hand away, grinding himself against her. Ruby let out a slightly louder moan as she gripped his hands, feeling the pleasure slowly start to rake through her body from the simple action of their loins rubbing together. Slowly, his grinding began to pick up in speed as he let out a sigh, trying not to lose his mind as Ruby's hips began moving in sync with his.

Precum started coating Ruby's crotch, as well as her vaginal fluids on Delta's member as they continued grinding against each other, Delta leaning down to kiss her. Ruby's arms looped around him as he slowed down to a stop, pulling away from the kiss as they stared into each others' eyes. Without breaking eye contact, Delta reached down, guiding his member and pressing it against Ruby's hole, causing the red head to shiver, but still not breaking eye contact.

It was only once he started inserting did their eye contact break.

Sliding the head of his member in, he watched Ruby gasp, then watched her eyes slowly roll back as he slid himself into her completely, loving the squeal she made as he entered and filled her all the way to her cervix. He couldn't help but moan as well, feeling her trembling slightly as he laid on her, the sensation of being in her pussy after so long almost unbearable.

"God…you're still so tight…," Delta breathed out.

"Only for you," Ruby moaned back, spreading her legs out wider. Her hands trailed down to Delta's ass, caressing it as she tried to raise her hips, encouraging him to try and get deeper, to which Delta happily complied, going balls deep and causing her to grin and shiver as he pushed against her womb. She could then feel him kissing her ear comfortably, leaning her head to the side to let him kiss at her neck as she closed her eyes. Delta complied, leaving a hickey, then heard her say, "Mm…fuck me, baby."

Ruby felt his cock slowly begin pulling out, causing her to whine a little, then let out a surprised moan as he pushed back in. With her legs trembling, she clutched onto Delta for dear life, her voice uncontrollable as he began thrusting fast, loving the feeling of his cock sliding in her pussy. It had been so long, she had almost forgotten the sensation. It also seemed like it was even better now as well as his cock repeatedly knocked against her womb.

Delta, meanwhile, was trying so hard not to blow his load prematurely into her. His eyes closed in concentration, he simply focused on trying to find her weak spots again, every bump and fold of her vaginal walls tightly constricting his cock as he continued thrusting away. Ruby's moans did nothing but egg him on as he lifted himself off of her body, grabbing her hips and raising them as he started thrusting harder.

Ruby's moans became louder as her hands grabbed at the bedsheets, trying to move her hips with Delta's, her legs feeling like jelly as she started cumming. Her eyes scrunched up, she couldn't even say that her orgasm was fast approaching, letting out a louder moan as she suddenly tightened against Delta and began trembling violently. However, above the orgasm, she could still feel him thrusting away at her, her vocal cords not getting a break as her moans came out like an endless chorus.

"God! Delta!"

There wasn't much more Ruby could say; Delta's cock was too good and it was making her go stupid.

Until, eventually, Delta stopped thrusting.

Looking up at him desperately, Ruby watched him slowly pull out of her, causing her to gasp, then whine as the comforting heat of his cock left her pussy. Immediately, she moved her hand to try and finger herself, but then felt Delta hook one of her legs and flip her over. She then felt herself get pulled back to the edge of the bed before feeling him shove his erection back into her, causing her to let out a surprised yelp as he began thrusting and hitting her cervix over and over again. Her toes curled, her hands gripping the bed sheets so tightly that her knuckles were white, and her eyes glazed over and lost in pleasure.

Delta watched her body squirm on the bed, looking down at their connection from time to time as he felt himself continuously hit her womb. Despite being away for a while, it was almost as if nothing had changed. Like he had been there the whole time.

Looking up, he then noticed Ruby looking back at him, the lost in pleasure look of her eyes causing him to grin as he raised a hand and smacked her ass.

Ruby let out a yelp as he did it again, causing another yelp before her legs began trembling once more. Delta's strong grip on her hips gave her reassurance that she wasn't going to fall off the bed, so her legs bent up and toes curled even more as her moans slowly turned into quiet screams.

"I'm gonna cum…! Oh—ah! Oh god, I'm—ah—gonna cum!"

Delta couldn't help but grin once more as Ruby squirmed under him again, her legs opening some more as he started thrusting into her at a different angle, feeling her cum all over his cock and balls.

Instead of thrusting through her orgasm, he instead opted to pull out of her, flipping her over again and watching her trembling in a heap. Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to regain control of her breathing, her crotch messy with her pussy's liquids. Delta ginned once again, getting on the bed and pulling her so her head was resting on the pillows.

Ruby, however, was so out of it that she barely felt him moving her.

When she finally came to, though, she looked at Delta's face, then down just in time to see him sliding his cock back into her. Her head slowly lolled up as he began thrusting again, her legs almost like jelly as her hands went around his back. Tilting her head to the side again, she could feel him move his face next to hers, his heavy breath filling her ear as he then asked, "Tell me you missed me, Ruby."

"I missed you," Ruby moaned back, "I missed you so much, Del!"

"Yeah? Have you been a good little girl for me?"

"Yes daddy," Ruby said almost on impulse, then caught herself as she then said, "W-wait, I didn't mean-!"

However, Delta immediately lost all sense of control once the word "daddy" rolled past her lips.

Before she knew it, Ruby couldn't so much as say a single word as Delta's thrusting became almost maniacal, holding himself up on his arms and above her. Ruby gripped at his biceps, trying to keep her eyes open as she watched him thrust into her, his steady rhythm rocking her very being as they looked each other in the eyes.

"Call me that again, baby," Delta stated with a grin, "I want to hear you say it again."

"Mm, okay daddy," Ruby replied, grinning as he started thrusting into a very specific spot that made her hands lose control of their grip on his arms.

"Yes, fuck me just like that, Del!"

Ruby's brain felt like it had turned to mush. Nothing mattered to her anymore. All she cared about was the man that was thrusting his cock into her so hard and so well, hitting every little weak spot she had to offer.

It almost felt like an eternity had passed before she noticed a slight change in Delta's thrusting.

Slowly, but surely, it was beginning to grow more erratic, causing her to look up and see his eyes closed, as if he was trying to concentrate. A smile slowly curled on her lips as she released her grip on his biceps, raising her legs to wrap around his waist as her arms looped around his neck. Delta's eyes opened up, an almost desperate look on his face, causing Ruby's smile to turn into a grin as she said, "Just cum in me, Del!"

Delta wasn't going to have it any other way.

A slight speed up in thrusting, Ruby let out a small moan as she watched his face, finding the way his eyes closed tightly very hot. She could feel him slowly growing harder inside her, her legs relaxing a little to allow him to thrust freely as she then said, "C'mon, blow that load inside me, Del!"

Delta let out a small moan, hearing her egg him on as he inched closer and closer to ejaculation.

"Do it daddy," Ruby breathed out, "Knock your baby girl up!"

Before she knew it, Ruby let out a surprised yelp as the first spurt of cum entered her.

Delta let out a moan, laying on her and trying to get as deep as he could.

Ruby's legs tightened their grip around him, pulling him deeper as she shivered, feeling his cum invade her pussy, surely making its way to her womb. Each throb of his cock caused her to moan as she felt a steady stream of warm fluids flow into her, a happy grin on her face as she closed her eyes, tilting her head back slightly as Delta dug his face into the crook of her neck. She felt him continue trembling through his orgasm, knowing just from how long his orgasm was that he had been backed up for a long, long time.

Eventually, Delta calmed down on top of her, breathing heavily into her ear.

Ruby smiled, relaxing her legs' death grip on his hips as she let her arms fall to her sides, letting out a content sigh as she laced her legs around Delta's and cooed out, "that was amazing!"

A chuckle was the only reply she received before he eventually lifted himself up to look down at her again, both their faces flushed red as they looked back at each other. Ruby smiled again, looping her arms up around his neck once more as Delta leaned down to kiss her again, her hips shifting slightly as he pulled away, starting to pull out.

Ruby couldn't help but shiver as she released his member with a pop, then felt some leftover cum leak out of her, a shaky breath escaping her lips. She then turned to Delta, smiling again as she said, "You're the best, Del."

"You're too kind, Rubes," Delta chuckled, then moved back down on her, his _still_ hard member poking her again. Ruby felt the world freeze, then looked up at him, surprised. Delta simply grinned and stated, "You damn well know I'm not gonna just let one round finish me after not seeing you for so long."

With that, he broke in and entered her again.

And Ruby wasn't complaining.


End file.
